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People Die in Bed and So Does Ambition
People die in bed and so does ambition. Therefore, it is essential to never give up. “Thou shalt not be idle; for he that is idle shall not eat the bread, nor wear the garment of the laborer,” reports Doctrine and Covenants 42.42. We are here for a great purpose and it is not meant for us to just have fun and accumulate materials things. While it is important to enjoy life and have a clean and safe place to live, we are here to do the Lord’s work. We must work righteousness in the Earth, subdue wickedness, and conquer sin in our souls. Everyone experiences their identities differently, but everyone experiences who they are. We act in the world and interact with other people as the person we believe ourselves to be. Our very names designate our personal, as well as family, identities, and we act in the ways expected of the person so named. Some psychologists describe a person’s sense of his or her identity with the term self. This term implies that the individual is somebody in particular (a self), and it also signifies that this individual can experience his or her being in several perspectives, or modes, such as the modes of perception, of conceptualizing, and of imagination. The structure of the self has a great deal to do with one’s success, one’s ability to accomplish goals set by self or by others. #RandolphHarris 1 of 28
The self-concept is the picture we have of ourselves. In recent years, the importance of this concept has become established as a factor in school achievement, social behavior—almost all facets of one’s life. It often includes an appraisal or evaluation of self as “good” or “bad,” judgments we make about our own intelligence, attractiveness, and abilities. The self is the unique, special identity, the person, the personality. Under its synonym, the personality, the self has a great collection of research behind it, and it is a never-ending cause of concern, wonder, pride, or even sometimes shame for the human being who attempts to discover self. The ideal self is the person or self we think we ought to be. It is important, in that too big a difference between one’s self-concept and one’s ideal self indicates a good deal of dissatisfaction with one’s self and is often associated with behavior or emotional problems. The public self is the image or picture of ourselves that we give to the general society. It includes the way we want to be seen by others and often involves hiding some aspect of self or showing only certain aspects of self. However, the authentic person discloses his or her whole self comfortably and allows very little distinction between the public self and the real self. Sometimes the public self is also called the social self. #RandolphHarris 2 of 28
The real self is a bit of mystery. It is not as readily defined as other terms about the self. It involves our perception of our own being, being aware of the flow of our own consciousness. We come to know our real self by reflecting upon our experience candidly and through objective observations and evaluation of self. However, in the same manner that philosophers may debate for centuries the nature of reality, so some self-psychologists question the existence of a real self. Our best self is that aspect of the personality that we know as the best of ourselves that we can create, whether in secluded privacy or in blazing public light. It is roughly equivalent to the healthy personality at its best. It is significant as one of many descriptions of the high-level-functioning person. Healthy personality calls for action that achieves satisfaction of persons’ basic needs and that fulfills the projects they undertake to give meaning and direction to their lives. Persons sense of their identity has a decisive influence upon what action they feel free to engage in and what is taboo for them. Thus, persons can so define themselves that the very action that is essential for their wellbeing and growth is not compatible with their self-concept, their self-ideal, or their public self. Accordingly, they refrain from the activity and live out their identities, even though it may be sickening them. #RandolphHarris 3 of 28
We have already seen that Little Red Riding Hood’s childhood adventure with the wolf (her grandfather) had a profound effect on her life when she grew up. Knowing what real people do, it is not hard to surmise also what happened to Cinderella after she married. She found that being a Princess was lonely. She wanted to play, “Try and Catch Me” with the Prince some more, but he was not much fun. She teased her sisters when they came to visit her, but that did not amuse her for long either, particularly since they were not very good sports about it now that she had the upper hand. The King sometimes looked at her oddly, and he was not as old as he pretended to be, but he was not as young as he pretended to be either; in any case, she did not want to think about things like that. The Queen was nice to her, but very proper as a Queen had to be. As for the rest of the people at court, Cinderella had to be very proper to them. In due time, she did have the son that she and everybody else were waiting for, and there was much joy and celebration. However, she did not have any other children, and since the little Duke was taken care of by nursemaids and governesses as he grew up, Cinderella was soon as bored as before, particularly during the day when her husband was out hunting, and in the evening when he sat with his gentlemen friends losing money at cards. #RandolphHarris 4 of 28
After a while, she made an odd discovery. The people who interested her most, although she tried to keep it a secret, were the scullery maids and the cinder maids who cleaned the fireplaces. She would find all sorts of excuses to be around while they were working. Pretty soon, she was making suggestions to them from her own long experience with these matters. Then she found, riding around the little kingdom in her carriage, sometimes with her son and his governess and sometimes without them, and strolling through the less affluent parts of the towns and villages, something she had known all along: all over the kingdom there were thousands of women doing scullery work and cleaning out hearths. She would stop and gossip with them and talk about their work. Soon she got into the habit of making regular rounds to some of the least affluent homes where the women had to work the hardest. She would put on old clothes and sit in the cinders with them talking, or help them in the kitchen. Word soon got around in the kingdom about what she was doing, and the Prince even quarreled with her about it, but she insisted that that was what she wanted to do more than anything else, and kept on doing it. One day, one of the ladies of the court, who was also bored, asked permission to go with her. #RandolphHarris 5 of 28
As time went on, others got interested. Pretty soon, dozens of noble ladies were putting on their oldest clothes every morning and going into town to help the less affluent housewives with the meanest work, meanwhile gossiping with them, and hearing all sorts of interesting tales. Then the Princess had the idea of all the helping ladies getting together to talk about the problems they encountered, so she organized them into the Ladies’ Cinder and Scullery Society, with herself as President. Now, whenever foreign chimney sweeps, vegetable-peddlers, woodcutters, scullery maids, or trash-collectors passed through town, they were invited to the palace to talk to the Society about what was new in their trades and how things were doing in their countries. In this way, Cinderella found her real self and her place in life, and she and her new friends contributed much to the welfare of the kingdom. For many people, a monogamous marriage means putting an end to the alternation between new and the old, the challenging and the reassuring, at least as far as pleasures of the flesh is concerned. They lack the imagination or the motivation to revitalize interest in pleasures of the flesh in their own marriage, and the only variety to suggest itself to them is having a variety of partners. Since they find this morally unacceptable, or simply too risky, they settle for security and, no matter how reluctantly, accept as a fact that monogamy inevitably becomes monotony. #RandolphHarris 6 of 28
However, the wish that it could be otherwise remains strong. And so, it is only to be expected that a great many men and women today, who until now have believed that fidelity with pleasures of the flesh was an ideal to uphold, even if they themselves could not hold to it, are fascinated by arguments that make a case for the acceptance of extramarital pleasures of the flesh. They half want to be persuaded that having one married partner need not mean having just one partner for pleasures of the flesh, that any modern could should be able to enjoy the challenge of extramarital affairs. Looked at one way, it amounts to offering husbands and wives the opportunity to have their cake and eat it, too. Looked at another way, it amounts to a magic cure for marital doldrums. Either way, the lure is powerful. However, even more powerful is the Law of Chastity. God wanted His spirit children to be born into families so they could be properly cared for and taught. The Law of Chastity states that we are to have sexual relations only with our spouse to whom we are legally married. No one, male of female, is to have sexual relations before marriage. After marriage, pleasures of the flesh are permitted only with our spouse. “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” reports Exodus 20.14. #RandolphHarris 7 of 29
Emotions are the primary means by which we make contact. Emotions need to be expressed to be complete. Take the feeling of excitement. It seeks to express itself in contact with other human beings. Excitement, the basic life energy of the individual, is almost inconceivable without a recipient of that force. A child who gets an “A” on her spelling test bursts with excitement until she can get home to tell her mother. Or the young man who has just seen a wonderful movie cannot wait to tell his best friend about it. If we do not express them, share them with another, the five basic emotions of anger, fear, hurt, joy, and love are incomplete. Likewise, if we cannot express our emotional life, core relationships cannot grow, or even exist for that matter. It is no wonder the manipulator fails to form such relationships and suffers the maladies of blocked emotions. The manipulator, blocking anger, might be said to be seething with resentment. This anger is incomplete and eventually, turned inward, results in feelings of resignation and depression. Fear keeps the manipulator imprisoned when she or we does not express it. The manipulator becomes a worrier, nibbling at the edges of the prison cell, unable to break free of phobias. #RandolphHarris 8 of 28
Hurt, when not expressed, cannot be finished with. It, too, simmers inside to become a pervasive, long-lasting sadness that threatens normal self-esteem. Repressed joy can destroy ambition, intellectual development, inquisitiveness, and awareness. Joy is the pay-off for almost everything we do, and without it, life and its challenges become nothing more than drudgery. Unrequited love may be sad, but unexpressed love is a tragedy. It provides the manipulator with a lifetime of regret over what might have been. Withholding caring, or incomplete love, is like giving a stone to another instead of bread. It affects adversity both the one who would not give and the one who does not, therefore, receive. When we proceed from these general viewpoints to the particulars of individual neuroses, the picture at first sight is confusing. There is simply nothing that may not be invested with pride. What is a shining asset to one person is a disgraceful liability to the next. One person is proud of being rude to people; another is ashamed of anything that could be construed as rudeness and is proud of his sensitiveness to others. One is proud of his ability to bluff his way through life; still another is ashamed of any trace of bluffing. Here is one who is proud of trusting people and there is one equally proud of distrusting them—and so forth and so on. #RandolphHarris 9 of 28
However, this diversity is bewildering only as long as we regard the special kinds of pride out of the context of the whole personality. As soon as we see each of them from the perspective of the individual’s total character structure, an ordering principle emerges: his need to be proud of himself is so imperative that he cannot tolerate the idea of being in the clutches of blindness; so he uses his imagination to turn these needs into virtues, to transform them into assets of which he can be proud. However, only those compulsive needs which serve his drive to actualize his idealized self undergo this transformation. Conversely, he tends to suppress, deny, despise those which obstruct this drive. His capacity for this unconscious reversal of values is perfectly amazing. The best medium through which to present it would be cartoons. There it could be shown most vividly how people afflicted with some undesirable trait take a brush, paint over the trait with beautiful colors, and present with blustering pride the picture of their assets. Thus, inconsistency turns into unlimited freedom, blind rebellion against an existing code of morals into being above common prejudice, a taboo on doing anything for oneself into saintly unselfishness, a need to appease into sheer goodness, dependency into love, exploiting others into astuteness. A capacity to assert egocentric claims appears as strength, vindictiveness as justice, frustrating techniques as a most intelligent weapon, aversion t work as “successfully resisting the deadly habit of work,” and so on. #RandolphHarris 10 of 29
These unconscious processes often remind me of the Trolls in Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, for whom “black looks white, and ugly fair, big looks little, and filthy clean.” Most interestingly, Ibsen accounts for this reversal of values in a way like our own. If you live in a self-sufficient dream world like Peer Gynt, Ibsen says, you cannot be true to yourself. Between the two, there is no bridge. They are too different in principle to allow for any compromise solution. And if you are not true to yourself, but live an egocentric life of imagined grandeur, then you will play ducks and drakes with your values too. Your scale of values will be just as topsy-turvy as is that of the Trolls. As soon as we go off on the search for glory, we stop being concerned about the truth of ourselves. Neurotic pride, in all its forms, is false pride. Once having grasped the principle that only those trends are invested with pride that serve to actualize the idealized self, the analyst will be alert to detect hidden price in any position which is tenaciously adhered to. The connection between the subjective value of a trait and neurotic pride in it seems to be a regular one. Recognizing either one of these factors, the analyst can safely conclude that in all probability, the other one will be there too. Sometimes the one, sometimes the other will come into focus first. Thus, a patient at the beginning of analytical work may express pride in his cynicism or in his power to frustrate others. And although at this juncture the analyst does not understand the meaning that the given factor has for the patient, he can be reasonably certain of it playing a significant part of the neurosis. #RandolphHarris 11 of 28
Undoubtedly, the master enjoys total freedom first as regards the slave, since the latter recognizes him totally, and then as regards the natural world, since by his work the slave transforms it into objects of enjoyment which the master consumes in a perpetual affirmation of his own identity. However, this autonomy is not absolute. The master, to his misfortune, is recognized in his autonomy by a consciousness that he himself does not recognize as autonomous. Therefore, he cannot be satisfied and his autonomy is only negative. Mastery is a blind alley. Since, moreover, he cannot renounce mastery and become a slave again, the eternal destiny of masters is to live unsatisfied or to be killed. The master serves no other purpose in history than to arouse servile consciousness, the only form of consciousness that really creates history. The slave, in fact, is not bound to his condition, but wants to change it. Thus, unlike his master, he can improve himself, and what is called history is nothing but the effects of his long efforts to obtain real freedom. Already, by work, by his transformation of the natural world into a technical world, he manages to escape from the nature which was the basis of his slavery in that he did not know how to raise himself above it by accepting death. #RandolphHarris 12 of 28
The very agony of death experienced in the humiliation of the entire being lifts the slave to the level of human totality. He knows, henceforth, that this totality exists; now it only remains for him to conquer it through a long series of struggles against nature and against the masters. History identifies itself, therefore, with the history of endeavor and rebellion. It is hardly astonishing that Marxism-Leninism derived from this dialectic the contemporary ideal of the soldier worker. Only he who is capable of sustained intellectual effort can understand this philosophy. Some people can understand philosophy and some most monumental concepts in an unclouded flash, but most people can understand, even its simplest ones only by slow degrees. Here first acquaintance is not enough. There must be many subsequent meetings before intimacy can be established. Thinking must not only approach these studies as worshippers approach a temple shrine, with the reverence they deserve, but must also become alive and dynamic. The intense intellectual joy of discovering a new truth—new, that is, to oneself, but as old perhaps as thoughtful humanity itself—equates with the intense aesthetic joy of creating or appreciating an art work. In the human body, the cerebral nervous system, with which man’s mental faculties are associated, does not develop until long after all the other chief organs have developed. This is symbolic of its evolutionary importance. In the human life, the thinking power does not attain full maturity until long after all the chief decisions, such as the choice of occupation, marriage-partnership, and religious affiliation have already been made. How much human error and consequent misery must therefore arise from the lateness of this development. #RandolphHarris 13 of 28
The award-winning Sacramento Fire Department is aware of their surroundings when performing their assigned tasks at an emergency scene. At an incident, they make a safe exist from the fire apparatus and look at the building or situation for safety hazards such as traffic, downed utility wires, and adverse environmental conditions. The introduction of new technologies requires fire fighters, paramedics, and EMTs to be familiar with their run areas and observant of new hazards. This includes the increasingly common photovoltaic power systems (solar power systems) and battery energy storage systems within electrical power grids. An incident on a street or highway must first be secured with proper traffic- and scene-control devices. A variety of traffic-incident management technqiues may be appropriate. Flares, traffic cones, and barrier tape are all measures that can help keep the public at a safe distance from the scene and to divert traffic around the area. Emergency vehicles can be placed to block traffic and protect the incident scene. The Sacramento Fire Department always operates within established boundaries and protected work areas. Changing fire conditions also will affect safety. Through situational awareness, fire fighters monitor the changing conditions and maintain safety. This continues even during the overhaul phase and while picking up equipment—watching out for falling debris, smoldering areas of fire, and sharp object. #RandolphHarris 14 of 28
If a safety officer is not on scene, another qualified person is assigned to monitor the atmosphere to ensure it is safe to remove Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) or enter the area without SCBA. Because of the chance for injury increases when you are tired, the Sacramento Fire Department does not let down their guard, even when the main part of the firefighting operation is over. When you think about professions, what comes to mind? Credentials, years of study and training, a code of ethics, status in the eyes of the community? Think of the medical caregiver, the legal specialist, the accountant, the architect, the teacher, the law enforcement officers, or the clergy member. What do they have in common with the profession you are training for and are about to enter—the Sacramento Fire Department? To truly understand your role as a fire fighter, paramedic, or EMT, you must first understand what people mean when they talk about a profession. A profession is a calling—a vocation. It is a livelihood, yes, but it does far beyond a simple occupation or “what you do” for a living. A profession is a way of being, a way of thinking, a way of behaving, and a way of growing. In short, it is a way of life, not just a job or a lifestyle. Most professionals would probably tell you that they do what they do because they love their work, that they could not do anything else, that they would do it even if they did not make money at all. The Sacramento Fire Department is just such a profession. That is why it is important to realize the difference between an occupation—a job—and a profession. #RandolphHarris 15 of 28
The job with the Sacramento Fire Department is the highest embodiment of the profession of service. When you become a commissioned officer in the Sacramento Fire Department, you join an elite body of leaders with a long, proud tradition of service to the country and a commitment to high ideals. “I’m doing what I want to do, and there’s no better feeling. Even after being hurt, I can’t wait to get up and go to work, because I enjoy my job. I love going to the firehouse. A nurse is someone I relate to a fireman, because you’re always helping somebody. A fireman should never expect to get a pat on the back, you just give yourself a pat of the back when you do a good job. That makes you feel good. Don’t wait for somebody else to pat you on the back. Just do your thing. When you come home in the morning, you look tired. Your wife and kids don’t know what you’ve been through. But if I’ve had a busy night on the job, I come home with a smile on my face, because I know I did something good, helped somebody or saved somebody’s property. I grew up working with a diverse group of firefighters; there were black and white firemen; they were all real men, and they taught me so much. Outside of that firehouse, in that neighborhood, it’s a cruel world. When people don’t have anything, they have nothing to lose. And it’s cruel. Life to some of those people means nothing. They kill people, they hurt people, they do a lot of nasty things to people, and it means nothing to them. You see a lot of violence. It makes you a little bit cold and a little bit distrusting to the people who are committing the crimes. But it makes you appreciate life a lot more when you go home to your family. #RandolphHarris 16 of 28
“I grew up in that area, in that firehouse, it’s part of my life. It’s something I’ll always cherish. I learned so much about life down there. I look at college-educated persons, and I can see that some of them don’t have any street sense. They don’t know what it is to be down at the bottom. Growing up there made me think a lot about the basic things in life. I don’t ever want a fancy house, I want a nice house. I want my kids to be well-educated, but I want them to know what does on out there on the streets. I want them to know the real world, so they won’t put themselves up on a pedestal. They still have to relate. Everybody is a human being. That’s one of the things I learned being there. There’s a whole world out there that people don’t see, especially people don’t live in a big city. I studied for over a year, and I’m on the captain’s list right now. I take an interest in administration, because I’m interested in the overall good of the fire department. I want to see our job work well. As a supervisor and a company officer, I have a lot of things I have to control. All I want a person to be if he works for me is to be honest and to be a fireman. I run a squad company and it’s taken me seven years, but I’ve built the heck out of a company, and I know everyone of my guys personally. But overall, my basic thing is that I still life being a company officer, and I still like fighting fires. #RandolphHarris 17 of 28
“Right now I can’t see myself in an administrative position. First of all, I’m too young. Not that I’m naïve. I try to cover everything that goes on in the job, but I haven’t got that tiger out of me yet. It’s still in my taken. As I say, I look forward to going to the firehouse, and if we have a busy day, I come home with a smile on my face. The pressures on the leadership are tremendous with the changes we’ve had. But everybody is pretty much back to normal. I never judge a person by what another person says about him. It’s how he deals with me. I’m on a squad company, and a lot of men think we’re macho. I don’t have that feeling. I’m just here because I enjoy the work and the different types of things you see. For example, yesterday we had a man down an elevator shaft. We had a crane on top of a car. We had a hazardous material spill last night. We do the scuba diving. We’re always doing something. Every day I go to work, I learn something different. And you can’t go wrong doing that. I was told when I was burned that I could have gone off on three quarters disability pay. To this day, does my back bother me? Yeah. Do my ears hurt me at a fire? A little bit. But that’s my love, that’s my life, second to my family. There’s no greater pleasures you can get than if you love your job and you go to work and enjoy yourself. Would I like an administrative job? No. It wouldn’t have been my style to leave the job. In the back of my mind, am I trying to fulfill something? Dedication to service, expertise, responsibility, and corporate culture.” #RandolphHarris 18 of 28
If you see a fire truck stopped in the street without the lights on, be very careful. Sometimes there is an emergency and you should not pass the fire truck. It might be a good idea to safely turn around and go another way because if you hit someone and they happen to die, you could be charged with manslaughter. Sometimes fire fighters are getting back into their vehicle and if you pass the apparatus, you may collide with a firefighter who is on foot. Also, be sure to look at their signals, sometimes emergency vehicles are in motions, albeit, slowly, and drivers try to pass them, and this could lead to a dangerous situation. Also, if you are in an intersection when you see an emergency vehicle, continue through the intersection. Drive to the right as soon as it is safe and stop. Obey any direction, order, or signal given by a law enforcement officer, or a firefighter. Even if they conflict with existing signs, signals, or laws, follow their orders. When their siren or flashing lights are on, it is against the law to follow within 300 feet of any fire engine, law enforcement vehicle, ambulance, or other emergency vehicle. If you drive to the scene of a fire, collision, or other disaster, you can be arrested. When you do this, you are getting in the way of firefighters, ambulance crews, or other rescue and emergency personnel. The concept of professional courage does not always mean being as tough as nails, either. It also suggests a willingness to listen to other peoples’ problems, to go to bat for them in a tough situation and it means knowing just how far they can go. It also means being willing to tell the boss when he or she is wrong. #RandolphHarris 19 of 28
California is the third most expensive state in the nation. A single person making an income above $100,000 is now consider low-income in five counties in California. This distinction now applies to individuals living in Santa Cruze, Santa Clara, San Mateo, San Francisco, and Marin counties. In 37 percent of counties, a family of four living on a six-figure income is now considered low-income. In fact, Governor Gavin Newsom of Democratic controlled California, brags about being the world’s “fifth largest economy,” but it also facing a $12 billion deficit, looking to cut $747 million for state worker’s pay, pushing to keep medical insurance for illegal immigrants, but wants to cut medical for anyone who has assets over $2,000 and the state has the largest homeless population in the nation. If they are all officially counted, California has approximately 4 million homeless people. The highest home prices in the nation, the highest taxes and the most unfriendly business regulations known to man. The average home price in California is nearly $1,000,000.00 USD, while the average salary is $96,036.00, meaning that most Californians cannot even afford to buy a home. California is having an affordability crisis. In 2025, many people in California saw their bills increase by an estimated $500 a month. This includes things like food, automobile insurance, homeowner’s insurance, electricity. In fact, more than 3 million people in California are facing household hardship, and more than 300,000 of them are facing eviction soon. This comes at a time when California is having a shortage of affordable housing. This is caused by nearly half a century’s old laws that discourage homes sales and encourage higher rents. Meanwhile, China, where we are sending all of our jobs and money has more than 50 ghost cities. Ghost cities are regions will housing has been overdeveloped to the point that these places are uninhabited. Because California is so hostile towards people and businesses, more than 360 companies have fled the state since 2020. Businesses like Chevron, SpaceX, Oracle, and Hewlett Packard are amongst the names on that list. #RandolphHarris 20 of 28
Also, more than 500,000 people a year are abandoning California because it is too expensive to live in, Gavin Newsom has criminalized homelessness and actually started arresting people without homes, crime is out of control, and they are losing their jobs due to companies relocating. More than 100 companies have announced layoffs in California for 2025. Intel is cutting 15,000 jobs, PayPal 2,500 and Meta has terminated 4,000 employees. The California crisis created by Democrats is driving up home prices and mortgages and rents all over the nation and the world, making living unaffordable for all, and advocates say the crisis is far from over. Accordingly, California has more than 3.5 million illegal immigrants. Having the Southern American boarder open and not having American farmland protected, not producing beef, poultry, fish, fruit, produce and dairy in America, and without American goods and services being our number one manufactured and selling items, America has created a dangerous and significantly elevated risks to national security, national economic security, and national public health. Some people may believe that these claims are overstated, but by not routinely monitoring Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CEVs) or other security relevant alerts, such as end-of-life of machinery is how the Oroville Dam Crisis occurred in 2017. Other crises that have occurred due to neglect of critical infrastructure is the 2025 Palisades fires because Southern California ran out of water, when they are located next to an ocean and they could have simply created desalinating plants to help with the water shortage. The water is so plentiful that it is currently eroding land and causing homes to fall into the sea. #RandolphHarris 21 of 28
The American government should know all exploitable vulnerabilities and fix them prior to the situation becoming a crisis. Failure to take such mitigating actions is dangerous and significantly elevates risk to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. The American government must understand that significant time and resources must be invested in America. They must also encourage corporations to plan for both mitigating safety vulnerabilities in the short term and eliminating them in the long term. For instance, a company might begin by reaching out to the federal, state or local government and requesting tax incentives to provide security to dangerous communities, to help the government repair bridges and potholes. America needs an approach to eliminate safety vulnerabilities in American cities. There needs to be a road map by the end of 2025, outlining a prioritized approach to eliminate crisis situations in America. There is enough money to send aid to foreign nations, but the American government does not have enough money to care their infrastructure, provide adequate resources, nor end the affordable housing crisis. Nor is there enough money to fund other national critical functions (NCFs). These bad practices of putting America and Americans last is considered exceptionally risky, particularly to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. In 2024, Americans spent $100 billion on Japanese cars. #RandolphHarris 22 of 28
Additionally, with inflation rates at an all-time high, American being in an unofficial recession for about a decade, all insurance in California is becoming unaffordable. State Farm has received an approval for an emergency rate increase, which was approved by the California Insurance Commissioner, to stabilize the market and protect policyholders. Starting 1 June 2025, homeowners will see an average of 17 percent increase, rental dwellings will see an increase of 38 percent, and Condo owners will see a rate increase of 15 percents. These rate increases are due to the distressed caused by the recent wildfires, which accumulated over $7 billion in claims. Furthermore, in 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1107, also known as the Protection California Drivers Act, into law which increases the minimum auto lability limits for bodily injury to $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident. Senate Bill 1107 also increased the minimum liability limits for property damage to $15,000 per accident and the DMV deposit for uninsured drivers to $75,000. The bill went into effect on January 1, 2025. This means that drivers with existing policies with lower limits will renew at the new minimum limits on or after January 1, 2025, and insurance premiums could increase by as much as 54 percent. America is in a state of crisis right now because of mismanagement by democrats. With the median household income in Sacramento County being $88,724 and a 4-bedroom 2.5-bathroom Cresleigh home costing $798,059, how are people able to afford homes? Because an $800,000 home with a one percent down payment of $8,000, 30-year fixed loan at 4.176 percent interest comes with a monthly mortgage payment of $4,241. #RandolphHarris 23 of 28
The maximum percentage of your gross income that you should earmark for a monthly mortgage payment is calculated at 28 percent, and no more than 36 percent of your gross income to all debts, including mortgage. If you take 28 percent of the median household income per home in Sacramento County, homeowners can only afford a mortgage of $2,070.23 per month. And if you take 36 percent of their gross income to all debts, including mortgage, they should be devoting no more than $2,661.72 a month to these debts. Mortgage lenders must be using some kind of sorcery to get buyers into these expensive homes. To afford one of these homes using traditional guidelines, a household would need to gross $11,280.24 per month or $135,362.88 per year, but the median household in Sacramento County is grossing $7,393.67 or $88,724.00 and that typically means two to four people in the home are working and contributing to the mortgage. Prices in Sacramento County are actually rivaling the Bay Area, and the Bay Aera is so expensive because they have more higher paying jobs and is a tourist destination. And with the State of California being in a budget deficit of $12 billion, Governor Gavin Newsom Granted 700,000 illegal immigrants free health care at a cost to taxpayers of $3 billion annually, while cutting vital programs for veterans, school children, the disabled and the homeless, and is proposing to fast-track his plan to build a $20 billion water tunnel beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta by eliminating environmental reviews and limit avenues for legal challenges. Gavin Newsom only cares about the environment when his policies allow him to raise taxes and restrict freedoms. #RandolphHarris 24 of 28
In fact, Mexico has been causing one of America’s worst environmental disasters. Fifty million gallon a day of industrial chemicals, untreated sewage, and trash flow from Tijuana, Mexico, into southern San Diego County daily. This toxic waste has been turning up on Imperial Beach, and is causing the miles of white sands to become polluted and the ocean breeze to smell of poop, which has been sickening residents and wildlife and costing San Diego millions in the form of lost tourism and health problems. The problem has been going on for more than a century. However, it has become a public health crisis as the population of Tijuana has drastically increased, in recent years, and the waste treatment plants have no longer usable. The beach has been closed for more than three years, and evidence suggests that even breathing the air may be harmful, as toxic particles in the water can become airborne. Yet, even though Gavin Newsom has been governor for six years, he has not rushed into action to stop this very preventable environmental disaster. Why? Because he is not getting kickbacks from China and Mexico, not being gifted mansions and cars, and he cannot tax the struggling California taxpayers to clean up this mess. Simply, it is not profitable for him. Gavin Newsom has been a total tyrant with no regard for taxpayers and does not have a mind for business and should be impeached as soon as possible. He has criminalized poverty, increased taxes, increased tax on gas, and insurance rates so high that people are struggling to survive. Meanwhile, Gavin Newsom has given billions of taxpayer dollars away to illegal immigrants and protected them from law enforcement, while arresting law abiding Americans because they cannot afford to pay rent or mortgage and the homeless shelters are unsafe, overcrowded and have restrictions on who is allowed inside. Wars have been started over governments who tax citizens without representation. Taxation without representation is what led to the American Revolution. If Gavin Newsom is not stopped, next he will euthanize the poor and sterilize the disabled. Gavin Newsom has wars and fires breaking out on the streets, but goes out of his way to arrest people who have no place to live. This monster is unfit to be governor and must never be allowed to be President of America! Stop Gavin Newsom now! Save California and impeach this unreasonable man. #RandolphHarris 25 of 28
Meanwhile, with President Trump, we are seeing crime rates sharply decrease, and he recently secured $10 trillion in investments. Additionally, in May of 2025m the United States of America collected a record $22.3 billion in tariff revenue. If elected president for an unprecedented third term, to make housing more affordable and to offset the cost of homeowner’s insurance and auto insurance, President Trump plans to abolish property taxes. Much like the land crisis in Las Vegas, we could also run out of land to farm and will not be able to grow or cultivate our own food. We can protect American farmland and support American farmers by buying American made beef, poultry, dairy, and produce. Also, country of origin labeling is very important so Americans can know where their food is coming from and have the ability to support American farmers and ranchers. As money flows, it influences further investment. Save the land that sustains us by protecting American farmland. Once the land is built on, we lose it forever. And in the future, there may be food wars. Also, to ensure that we have farmland and buildable land for future use, we need to start limiting the number of people allowed to immigrant to America. Perhaps with the immigrants we do allow into America, there needs to be a diversity program to make sure we have a population that equally represents all races of people. If Americans continue to spend money on American products, then more need to be made to keep up the inventory. When investors notice these goods are selling, it gives them the confidence to pour more money into that local business. It shows that people want these goods made in America and pressures investors to keep these goods and services in America. The jobs stay here, the business stays in American, wages naturally increase, and more money is invested to keep up with demand. This reduces the burden on the taxpayer. When you support American businesses, that money stays in our economy and can help to reduce the national debt. The government creates debt by borrowing from businesses in the private sector or from foreign countries. It also increases the national debt by spending more than it gains in tax revenue in a fiscal year. #RandolphHarris 26 of 28
When people shop locally, more tax money stays in the economy and goes to the government. This way, it keeps more money in our national economy and keeps more jobs located in American which also sends more taxes to the government, which can again help to reduce the national debt. When you buy foreign goods, these companies usually have lighter tax loads or exemptions, meaning less money for the nation debt, plus you are helping to strengthen these foreign nations by send more money overseas. Buying American made products is also better for the environment and helps to reduce the carbon footprint because these products do not have to travel nearly as far. Furthermore, American companies and manufacturers are held to much higher standards on pollution. American companies must be more careful about air, land, and water pollution and have proper ways to dispose of waste. Moreover, please remember to respect law and order and treat your elders with the utmost dignity and kindness possible. And take your education seriously so that you will be successful in life and make your family proud. It is inborn in the human minds to wish to know. If this begins with the endless surface questions of a child’s curiosity, if it continues into deeper questions of a scientist’s probing investigation, it cannot and does not stop there. For the higher part of the mind will eventually come into unfoldment, that union of abstract reflective thought with mystical intuition, which is true intelligence, which needs and sees a view of the whole of things. And so, the knowing faculty enters the realm of philosophy. #RandolphHarris 27 of 28
As you can see, President Donald Trump and his pledge to “Make America Great Again,” is exactly what America needs to save the country and the American people. And yes, diversity is important, so you can see why it is also important to preserve blonde hair and blue eyes as the people with these characteristics are becoming a minority in America. We must think before we can understand the soul’s existence; we must understand before we can realize it. The earliest beginnings of thought, as apart from instinct, when it was itself still but a lurking tendency, belong far back in primeval time. The human intellect as we find it today, so rich and developed an instrument for the consciousness of the ego, did not arrived at this fulness without a series of graduated stages. We have had plenty of scientific thinking, business thinking, and political thinking long enough, but we have had very little inspired thinking. That is the world’s need. The intellect is cradled in selfishness but runs the evolutionary track into reason where it will one day finish at the winning-post of selflessness. As a reminder, parents, pleasure teach your children love America and be patriotic citizens and to buy goods and services made in America. It is also important to respect law and order and treat your elders with respect. “Oh, thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand between their loved home and the war’s desolation! Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, and this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.’ And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.” #RandolphHarris 28 of 28
Experience an unforgettable journey back to the time of kings and queens with this entry ticket for The Winchester Mansion in Santa Clara, California which was the residence of Heiress Sarah L. Winchester. Take advantage of this fascinating experience. After tour, there will be time enjoy the mansion’s splendor at your own pace. You might even discover secret passages.
Please come and enjoy a delicious meal in Sarah’s Café, stroll along the paths of the beautiful Victorian gardens, and wonder through the miles of hallways in the World’s most mysterious mansion.
For further information about tours, including group tours, weddings, school events, birthday party packages, facility rentals, and special events please visit the website: https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/
Please visit the online giftshop, and purchase a gift for friends and relatives as well as a special memento of The Winchester Mystery House. A variety of souvenirs and gifts are available to purchase. https://shopwinchestermysteryhouse.com/
We wish to express our gratitude to our families, ancestors, spirits, and friends and to our many associates and clients, whose lives touched our lives and whose ideas helped us to grow. We would also like to thank our employees and care takers for putting the technical ideas of this estate into conversational style, and we are, of course, extremely thank to all of our patrons for helping to keep the legacy of the Winchester Family alive. The Winchester Mystery House is full of surprises. What was your favorite, “Oooh!” moment during your visit at the mansion? (And for those of you who still have to check it off your bucket list… we will hopefully see you soon.) https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/
Harris Plumbing, Heating, Air, & Electric has been in business for 30 years. How many businesses can say that? We take pride in everything we do – no matter how big or small the service call might be. We’re here to help your home be as safe and comfortable as possible for you and your family. We take that responsibility very seriously as a company. Harris will ensure you have the information you need to decide what to do next, whatever your home is facing. We’ll perform a diagnosis and detail what issues are present before starting any work. This gives you a personalized quote and service plan specific to your home’s needs – not some random quote based on the best guess. The only way we can do our best work is to make sure we handle the issues at hand. https://www.callharrisnow.com/about-us/
BMW continues to dominate the luxury car space. With its top ranking in Consumer Reports’ Auto Brand Report Card and consistent market share growth, BMW has demonstrated its ability to produce high-performing, reliable vehicles that meet consumer demands.
BMW stands out due to its focus on driving dynamics and engineering excellence. While other luxury brands prioritize comfort and opulence, BMW is known for creating cars that are fun to drive and offer a unique connection between the driver and the machine. https://www.brianharrisbmw.com/
Randolph Harris San Francisco Taxation & Mergers
Randy advises clients with regard to business transition, taxable and tax deferred mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, restructuring, integrated tax planning, federal and state tax controversy resolution, and real estate transactions. https://www.jmbm.com/l-randolph-harris.html
Cresleigh Bluffs at Plumas Ranch
Plumas Lake, CA | from the mid $400’s
Now Selling!
Welcome to Cresleigh Bluffs, the newest home community in Plumas Ranch!
Nestled in the heart of Plumas Lake, CA, Cresleigh Bluffs offers three distinct single story floor plans designed with efficiency and practicality in mind.
Home design is made easy with expertly crafted design packages exclusive to Cresleigh Bluffs. Choose from a variety of packages made to fit your taste and budget. Contact our dedicated sales associates to learn more. PlumasRanch@cresleigh.com
Sign up for our interest list today to stay up to date on community information. https://cresleigh.com/cresleigh-bluffs-at-plumas-ranch/move-in-ready-homesite-2/
BMW i8 and Left No Crumbs!
Some people claim that no one cares about your success because they really want to see the journey of how you got there. However, I do not believe that is true. When you are down and struggling and stuck with a bunch of rejections, bad news, failure, and debt, do you notice that no one is around, people avoid you, and no one offers help. Yet, when you are successful and doing well, you have all of the friends in the world. More than you will ever need. In the process of living, we will face struggles, many of which will cause us to suffer and to experience pain. Many people will suffer in personal struggles, while others will suffer as they watch their loved ones in pain. To gain strength in our struggles, we must have an optimistic perspective of the principles in the plan of salvation. We must realize that we have a personal Savior whom we can trust and turn to in our times of need. We must also learn and live in the principles that the Lord has given to receive the strength needed during our struggles. In the Grand Counsil in Heaven, the decision was made to “make an earth whereon these may dwell,” reports Abraham 3.24. This earth is the place to prove ourselves worthy and to prepare to return to the presence of the Lord. He explained, “And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them,” reports Abraham 3.25. #RandolphHarris 1 of 29
Before we can achieve the creative awareness, we need to overcome the manipulations in our lives, we must learn to identify, experience, and honestly express real feelings, not counterfeit emotions. Some of the manipulator’s repertoire of counterfeit emotions follow. Substituting one emotion for another. Many of us express anger when we pretend anger instead of express hurt. Thus, we hear the lady tears welling in her eyes, cry out: “You make me so mad!” She is not made at all; she is hurt. Her body does not like. Using the same counterfeit pattern, we express anger when we are really afraid. “You make me so angry when you forget to take your medicine,” a young woman screams at her ill mother. Her anger hides her fear. She is worried about her mother health. If she does not take her medicine, she might die. Feelings as a delayed reaction. Here we meet the person whose pace is so slow that he says: “I was mad at you last week.” Last week? It took him a week to find out? Not really. He knew how he felt last week, but he was afraid to express it then for fear he would be attacked in return. A favorite poly of the withdrawing and avoiding manipulator is to hide his or her real emotion at the time it is felt to avoid contact with another. The delayed reaction also provides an advantage to the manipulator: time to prepare a surprise attack. It is just another way to control rather than to make contact with another. #RandolphHarris 2 of 29
Making a virtue of not having normal feelings, or pretending you do not. Most of us know some couple who boast that they have never had a fight. Our response would have to be “Tommyrot!” Normal people who have any contact at all with each other must rub each other the wrong way at times. Of course, they have fights. They have them because they have normal feelings, as much as they would like to appear virtuously free of them. Confusing your feelings with facts. You say to someone, “You are stupid!” Your statement is not a fact at all, since you have not actually measured that person’s intelligence. If you said instead, “I feel that you are stupid,” then you would be stating a fact about your feelings, not a fact about the other individual’s intelligence. Expressing your feelings as you are poised for flight. Such a person may let true feelings slip out, but is ready to run the instant anyone reacts to them. A sign of immaturity, such timidity stunts one’s emotional growth and the development of relationships. With all his strenuous efforts toward perfection and with all his belief in perfection attained, the neurotic does not gain what he most desperately needs: self-confidence and self-respect. Even though godlike in his imagination, he still lacks the earthy self-confidence of a simple shepherd. The great positions to which he may rise, the fame he may acquire, will render him arrogant but will not bring him inner security. #RandolphHarris 3 of 29
He still feels at bottom unwanted, is easily hurt, and needs incessant confirmation of his value. He may feel strong and significant as long as he wields power and influence and is supported by praise and deference. However, all of these feelings of elation collapse easily when, in a strange environment, this support is lacking; when he incurs failure; or when he is by himself. The kingdom of haven does not come through external gestures. Let us survey what happened to self-confidence in the course of a neurotic development. Apparently, for self-confidence to grow, the child needs help from the outside. He needs warmth, feeling welcome, care, protection, an atmosphere of confidence, encouragement in his activities, constructive discipline. These factors given, he will develop “basic confidence,” to use a well-chosen term of Marie Rasey’s which includes both confidence in others and in self. Instead, a combination of injurious influences prevents a child’s healthy growth. However, there are some reasons which render it specifically difficult for him to arrive at a proper self-evaluation. A blind adoration may inflate his feeling of significance. He may feel wanted, liked, and appreciated not for what he is but merely for satisfying his parents’ needs for adoration, prestige, or power. A rigid regime of perfectionist standards may evoke in him a feeling of inferiority for not measures up to such demands. Misdemeanors or bad marks at school may be severely reprimanded, while good behavior or good marks are taken for granted. Move toward autonomy or independence may be ridiculed. #RandolphHarris 4 of 29
All these factors, in addition to a general lack of genuine warmth and interest, give him the feeling of being unloved and unworthy—or at any rate of not being worth anything unless he is something he is more. Moreover, the neurotic development, initiated by the early unfavorable constellation, weakens him at the core of his being. He becomes alienated from himself and divided. His self-idealization is an attempt to remedy the damage done by lifting himself in his mind above the crude reality of himself and others. And, as the stories of the devil’s pact, he gets all the glory in imagination and sometimes in reality. However, instead of solid self-confidence, he gets a glittering gift of most questionable value: neurotic pride. The two feel and look so much alike that an understandable confusion is created in most minds about their differences. A definition in an ole edition of Webster, for instance, says that pride is self-esteem, based either on real or imagined merits. The distinction is made between real and imagined merits, but they are both called “self-esteem,” as if this difference did not greatly matter. The confusion also develops through the fact that most patients regard self-confidence as a mysterious quality arising from nowhere but most desire to have. It is but logical then that they expect the analyst to instill it into them in some way or other. Which always reminds me of a cartoon in which a rabbit and a mouse got an injection of courage; they then grew give times their ordinary size, were bold and full of indomitable fighting spirit. #RandolphHarris 5 of 29
What the patients do not know—and are anxious indeed not to realize—is the strict cause-and-effect relation between existing personal assets and the feeling of self-confidence. This relation is not any less definite than the way in which the financial status of a person depends upon his properties, his savings, or his earning capacity. If these factors are satisfactory, a person will have a feeling or economic security. Or, to take another example, the fisherman’s confidence rests on such concrete factors as his boat being in good shape, his nets being mended, his knowledge of weather and water conditions, and his muscular strength. What are regarded as personal assets vary to some degree with the culture in which we live. For Wester civilization, they include such qualities or attributes as having autonomous convictions and acting upon them, having the self-reliance that stems from tapping our own resources, assuming responsibility for ourselves, taking a realistic appraisal of our assets, liabilities and limitations, having strength and directness of feelings, and having the capacity for establishing and cultivating good human relations. The well-functioning of these factors shows subjectively in a feeling of self-confidence. To the extent that they are impaired, self-confidence will be shaky. Healthy pride likewise is based on substantial attributes. It may be a warranted high regard for special achievements, such as feeling proud of a deed of moral courage or of a job well done. Or it may be a more comprehensive feeling of our own value, a quiet feeling of dignity. #RandolphHarris 6 of 29
Once upon a time there was a man named George, who was equally celebrated for slaying dragons and for fertilizing barren women. He wandered around the countryside as a completely free spirit—or so it seemed. Cantering through the meadows on a summer’s day, he saw columns of smoke and forks of flame shooting upward in the distance. As he approached the scene, he heard a terrible roaring, mingled with the shrill screams of a maiden in distress. “Aha!” he cried, couching his lance. “This is my third dragon and maiden in less than a week. I will slay the dragon, and no doubt my bravery will be richly rewarded.” A moment later, he cried to the dragon: “Avast, lubber!” and to the maiden: “Have no fear!” The dragon drew back and began to paw the ground in anticipation not only of a double meal, but also of what he loved best, a good fight. The maiden, whose name was Ursula, threw her arms out and cried: “My hero! I am saved.” She was delighted, not only in anticipation of being saved and watching a good fight, but also (since she was not really a maiden) at the prospect of showing gratitude to her rescuer. George and the dragon backed off from each other, preparing for the charge, whole Ursula cheered them both on. At the moment, another figure appeared on the scene, richly accoutered with a silver-mounted saddle and fat alforjas filled with gold coins. #RandolphHarris 7 of 29
“Hey boy!” cried the new arrival. George turned and said in surprise: “Father! How nice to see you!” He turned his back on the dragon, dismounted from his horse, and went to kiss his father’s foot. A lively conversation ensured, with George saying, “Yes, father. Certainly, father. Whatever you say, father.” Neither Ursula nor the dragon could hear father’s side of the conversation, but it soon became apparent that it was going to go on indefinitely. “Oh, for Christ’s sake!” said Ursula, stamping her foot in disgust. “Some hero! As soon as his old man appears, he’s right over there bowing and scraping, and he has no time for poor little me.” “You said it,” said the dragon. “This is going to go on forever.” So, he turned off his flame thrower and rolled over and fell asleep. However, eventually, the old man rode off, and George was ready to return to the fray. He couched his lance again, and waited for the dragon to get up and charge and Ursula to cheer him on. Instead, Ursula said: “Jerk!” and walked away. The dragon got to his feet and said: “Crumb!” and he, too, walked away. When George saw that, he yelled: “Hey dad!” and galloped after his father. Ursula and the dragon both turned at the same moment and both shouted after him: “Too bad he’s so old, or I would take him on instead of you.” #RandolphHarris 8 of 29
When I was young, several times it happened that I was “in love” and enjoying serenity and peace. Then I noticed frictions building, and I left before they could be damaging to either of us. This seemed to me best. I did not wish to be harmful to the other or to myself. I was called “callous.” It did not seem that way to me. However, when I had been called “callous” often enough, I thought I was, and stayed—with damage to all of us, including the children, which it took years to heal, and some of it is not entirely clearly up yet. The “loose morals” and “irresponsibility” (about work, with employers) of Hawaiians, Navajos, and Hopis seem to me to make better sense, to be more human, because they are less damaging to other humans and to my humanity. That we “criticize our neighbors for what are our own faults,” could be easily misunderstood. When my neighbor chains his dog on a short leash and blows smoke in the dog’s eyes, I do not like this, but it is not something that I do or even have ever wanted to do. However, when I have “held” someone insistently so that I could tell this individual what one did not wish to hear, is that different? It is not the act itself, but what the act is doing. As a child, when my mother told a “story” to someone who had come to the door, I wished she would not do it. I was “criticizing her”—to use grown-up language. However, I did not yet know this way to think about it. I did not blame her. I wished she would not do it because it opened up a path to me that I did not wish to go, and if she had done this, I would not have known it was there. #RandolphHarris 9 of 29
I knew only honesty until something else was shown to me. It was a very strong factor in my close identification with my father that he was honest. This I liked. I felt steady. He also made it possible for me to be honest with him—when I was small. Later on, he did not. If I want to be told the truth, I must be willing to accept it. And if I wish to have love, I must be willing to receive it. Now, when I feel critical of other people, I often notice that what I am really feeling is, “Please do not do that. It is what I do not want to do, and I so easily fall into it when you are doing it.” This is certainly true of stereotyped chatter about world affairs, gossip, literature, anecdotes, and such, and people who are forever planning, who never live now. Other people’s intellect/ego calls out mine, and then I do not like me. I would like there to be an irreligious order where I could go at times, to be with others who wish to work out the same corrections in themselves, to strengthen me in making mine. However, it can also be simply and directly true that what I criticize in others may be something that I do, too. It is certainly wise to look into myself and check—and also ask others whether it seems to them that I have this fault. It may seem to me that I am only “reminding” someone else (being helpful) while to others it may seem that I am “always nagging.” Then I may understand better how someone else’s nagging (as it seems to me) appears to them. #RandolphHarris 10 of 29
Because people do not feel their inward divinity, they often deny it. In ancient and even medieval times, they were satisfied that it did exist because their simplicity, their uncultivated intellects, created no barriers to this feeling or to faith in it on the authority of tradition and their prophets. We must understand the inevitability of their present skepticism and prove the fact of the Soul as logically, as evidentially as possible. Yet to offer intellectual proof alone is not enough, although a truly excellent step forward. We must also show them how to get the experience of verification for themselves. Skepticism makes conditions which require that truth be presented in a rational form and argued out. Otherwise, the intellectual reactions to it will not be fair and just to its value. The value of metaphysical skepticism is to overcome mental inertia, to liberate us from strict and rigid doctrines, and to teach us tolerance. It frees us to search for higher truths and nobler values. They may try to escape from their doubts, perhaps by stifling them, perhaps by ignoring their very existence, perhaps by going to the guru and getting his reassurance again. This course may succeed for a time, even for a lifetime. However, it is not conducive to their true welfare. There are two ways open to a skeptic. One is to seek the actual experience of transcending intellectual proof of it. The first is a hard and long way; the second short and easy. #RandolphHarris 11 of 29
Just as the very presence of suffering starts a search for its relief, so does the very existence of doubt cause a search for truth to begin. We must begin by suspecting the data furnished by our five senses. We must learn that appearances are dubious, that they are not to be accepted without searching enquiry. Not only is he to question the dogma which orthodoxy hands him but even the doubts which skepticism offers instead of them. Those skeptics who reject the possibility of attaining truth are already stating something as truth and thereby refuting their own theory. Because there is no room in philosophic study for naivete or gullibility, those who suffer from these mental disabilities should first get cured. Where belief comes too easily, error may follow too quickly. To doubt everything and stop at that point, to assent to nothing but criticize every presentation, to meet all affirmative statements with the skeptic’s questions—this is the product of sharp intellect, blunt speech, and negative feeling. If a man is too suspicious of being deceived, he may err when truth is presented to him, and so miss the change of acquiring it. Balance is needed here as elsewhere. To bring one’s natural skepticism into a fine balance with the intellectual sympathy, these subjects demand is not an easy task, but he must try to do it. #RandolphHarris 12 of 29
We can accept nothing on trust as far as the quest of truth is concerned, although we can and needs must accept most things on trust, so far as the practical purposes of life are concerned. No arguments are capable of moving the absolute skeptic, for he does not look into its truth but only into tis weaker places. If you do not know whether God exists, do not fall into the error of denying that he does exist. It is an error because it is something which we do not know and to make such a positive statement has no justification. In the West, physical bulkiness, with large, prominent musculature, has long been a masculine ideal, and such robustness has been praised in popular magazines and valued by women in their men. Heavy musculature has been cultivated by violent exercise, vigorous calisthenics, and comparable feats of endurance. One function of such heaviness (not obesity, just heavy musculature) is to decrease sensitivity to pain and to enhance endurance. In the East, perhaps because patterns of nourishment have been different, slenderness is more the rule. The disciplines of Hatha yoga have been employed in India for several thousand years as a way to bring the body under more control, so that meditation and contemplation will not be obstructed by an insensitive, or a tense, uncomfortable body. Hatha yoga is one part of the Hindu religion and is one of the means of achieving the experience of “union of inner and outer,” or dissolving the ego and unifying awareness. #RandolphHarris 13 of 29
Since prehistoric times, controlled fire has been a source of comfort and warmth, but uncontrolled fire has brought death and destruction. Some of the most important lessons have been learned in the aftermath of tragic fires that resulted in devastating loss of life. The success of the Sacramento Fire Department depends on their ability to think critically and creatively and to communicate their intention and decision to others. The ability to communicate clearly—to get their intent and ideas across so that others understand their message and act on it—is one of the primary qualities of leadership. While you are a college student, your channels of communication include presentations and term papers. When you become a Sacramento Fire Fighter, Paramedic, or EMT, these channels will expand to include training meetings, briefings, and operation orders. The means to effective communication within the Sacramento Fire Department has required team members to develop their speaking and writing skills so that they are able to deliver any message to any audience effectively. They also keep in mind that communication also includes receiving messages from others through reading and listening. #RandolphHarris 14 of 29
Early in your career with the Sacramento Fire Department, much of your communication is direct. For example, coaching team members often requires communication that is one-on-one, immediate, and spoken. Later in your career with the Sacramento Fire Department, as your leadership responsibilities increase, you will inform subordinates and leaders through written orders, procedures, memos, and e-mail. This form of communication is indirect—it goes through other people or processes, is time-delayed, and written. As a member of the Sacramento Fire Department, your ability to communicate—to write, speak, and listen—affects your ability to inform, tech, coach, and motivate those around you. The good news is that you can develop these essential skills. It is difficult to overemphasize the importance of these skills. In Sacramento Fire Department operations, as elsewhere, the inability to write and speak can have tremendous costs. History is replete with examples of misunderstood messages. For example, many Civil War scholars believe that victory at Gettysburg may have depended on how a subordinate interpreted Confederate GEN Robet E. Lee’s use of the word “practicable.” [On the first day of the battle of Gettysburg, Pa, Confederate attacks drove Union troops through the town to the top of Cemetery Hill, a half mile south.] The battle so far appeared to be another great Confederate victory. #RandolphHarris 15 of 29
However, General Lee could see that so long as the enemy held the high ground south of town, the battle was not over. He knew that the rest of the [Union] Army of the Potomac must be hurrying toward Gettysburg; his best chance to clinch the victory was to seize those hills and ridges before they arrived. So, General Lee gave Ewell discretionary orders to attack Cemetery Hill “if practicable.” Had Jackson still lived, he undoubtedly would have found it practicable. However, Edwell was not Jackson. Thinking the enemy position too strong, he did not attack—thereby creating one of the controversial “ifs” of Gettysburg that have echoed down the years. The Gettysburg vignette illustrates the parts of the communication process. General Lee was the sender. He sent the message: Attack Cemetery Hill. Ewell, the receiver, read the words, “if practicable,” decided that Union artillery on the hill made an attack not “practicable,” and did not attack. The words, “if practicable” made the message vague. (Who and what should define “if practicable”?) Obstacles to communication, such as this lack of clarity—along with other considerations, such as the demands of time, the ease of understanding the sender’s speech, the ability to read the sender’s handwriting, or the distractions in the area—make up what communications theorists call noise. Noise works against the clarity of communication. #RandolphHarris 16 of 29
Looking again at the vignette above, you find that General Lee never checked with Ewell to see if he understood General Lee’s intent: “What do you intend to do?” Ewell never checked to see if he understood General Lee’s intent: “What do you mean by ‘if practicable’?” The communication process included no feedback. Assume for a moment, as some historians do, that General Lee intended that Ewell attack Cemetery Hill immediately and decisively. (Those historians argue that General Lee was used to issuing such vague orders to the aggressive Stonewall Jackson, who had died a few months earlier.) Throwing Billy Yank off the hilltop might well have allowed General Lee to command the battlefield, perhaps even forcing the advancing Union armies to withdraw. That might have led to General Lee’s domination of southern Pennsylvania, choking off Washington from the North and ending the war on the Confederacy’s terms. If that were General Lee’s intent, the message failed. Ewell did not attack. The Union held onto the high ground and won the battle two days later—the beginning of the end for the Confederacy. Effective communication occurs when the receiver’s perceived idea matches the sender’s intended idea. The receiver understands what the sender means, not just what the sender says or writes. And that is why people like to hire and work with people they know and trust. Those who have the required skills for the job. #RandolphHarris 17 of 29
“I wouldn’t do any other job, I enjoy this one too much. I’ve spent my life preparing for it, and it would be hard for me to find employment doing something else. I don’t think I’d want to, I wouldn’t be as happy. I’m with the Sacramento Fire Department for the long haul. I’m still single, and I’m still young. I’m hoping to advance here as far as I can go, but I still have this desire to work in a very heavy urban area, such as New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia. It’s just something that I need personally to do. Here in Sacramento, I’ve only been a captain a year, and I’m looking forward to getting my own company. I would like to have a shifting on the new rescue company that’s going to be put into service here in the near future. I like what I’m doing now because I work with different people all the time and ride different territories. It’s good experience. I’ve been fortunate enough to work in a battalion where most of the people are like me, interested from a very early age, want to do their best, very gung-ho. Professional, very professional. When the company looks bad, everybody looks bad, and people’s perception of us will go down. I try to be as professional as I can, because that’s the way it should be. We should be good.” When intelligence is applied so thoroughly as to yield a whole view and not merely a partial view of existence, when it is applied so persistently as to yield a steady insight into things rather than a sporadic one, when it is applied so detachedly as to be without regard to personal preconceptions, and when it is applied so calmly that feelings and passions cannot alter its direction, then and only then, does a man become truly reasonable and capable of intellectually ascertaining truth. #RandolphHarris 18 of 29
If you see a fire truck stopped in the street without the lights on, be very careful. Sometimes there is an emergency situation and you should not pass the fire truck. It might be a good idea to safely turn around and go another way. Sometimes fire fighters are getting back into their vehicle and if you pass the apparatus, you may collide with a firefighter who is on foot. Also, be sure to look at their signals, sometimes emergency vehicles are in motions, albeit, slowly, and drivers try to pass them, and this could lead to a dangerous situation. Also, if you are in an intersection when you see an emergency vehicle, continue through the intersection. Drive to the right as soon as it is safe and stop. Obey any direction, order, or signal given by a law enforcement officer, or a firefighter. Even if they conflict with existing signs, signals, or laws, follow their orders. When their siren or flashing lights are on, it is against the law to follow within 300 feet of any fire engine, law enforcement vehicle, ambulance, or other emergency vehicle. If you drive to the scene of a fire, collision, or other disaster, you can be arrested. When you do this, you are getting in the way of firefighters, ambulance crews, or other rescue and emergency personnel. The concept of professional courage does not always mean being as tough as nails, either. It also suggests a willingness to listen to other peoples’ problems, to go to bat for them in a tough situation and it means knowing just how far they can go. It also means being willing to tell the boss when he or she is wrong. #RandolphHarris 19 of 29
As a reminder, parents, pleasure teach your children love America and be patriotic citizens and to buy goods and services made in America. It is also important to respect law and order and treat your elders with respect. To help our firefighters, pleasure donate to the Sacramento Fire Department to ensure they have all the resources they require. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. The concept of professional courage does not always mean being as tough as nails, either. It also suggests a willingness to listen to other peoples’ problems, to go to bat for them in a tough situation and it means knowing just how far they can go. It also means being willing to tell the boss when he or she is wrong. Islam is the fastest growing religion in America, out pacing Christianity. While American was once a nation of generations, there are still many indigenous people lift and others who have been here for generations. To protect America and make sure it will remain a land of the free and home of the brave, we must be patriotic and put Americans first. Democrats and Atheists would like nothing more than red blooded American warriors to become slaves in their own country. They would like nothing more than to close American schools so children can be forced into child labor again. It is not time to roll back, nor will it ever be to remove protection for American citizens. If you have not noticed, crime is spreading to communities that had never seen crime before. Homelessness is on the rise. #RandolphHarris 20 of 29
In fact, Governor Gavin Newsom of Democratic controlled California, brags about being the world’s “fifth largest economy,” but it also facing a $12 billion deficit, looking to cut $747 million for state worker’s pay, pushing to keep medical insurance for illegal immigrants, and has the largest homeless population in the nation. If they are all officially counted, California has approximately 4 million homeless people. The highest home prices in the nation, the highest taxes and the most unfriendly business regulations known to man. The average home price in California is nearly $1,000,000.00 USD, while the average salary is $96,036.00, meaning that most Californians cannot even afford to buy a home. California is having an affordability crisis. In 2025, many people in California saw their bills increase by an estimated $500 a month. This includes things like food, automobile insurance, homeowner’s insurance, electricity. In fact, more than 3 million people in California are facing household hardship, and more than 300,000 of them are facing eviction soon. This comes at a time when California is having a shortage of affordable housing. This is caused by nearly half a century’s old laws that discourage homes sales and encourage higher rents. Meanwhile, China, where we are sending all of our jobs and money has more than 50 ghost cities. Ghost cities are regions will housing has been overdeveloped to the point that these places are uninhabited. Because California is so hostile towards people and businesses, more than 360 companies have fled the state since 2020. Businesses like Chevron, SpaceX, Oracle, and Hewlett Packard are amongst the names on that list. #RandolphHarris 21 of 29
Also, more than 500,000 people a year are abandoning California because it is too expensive to live in, crime is out of control, and they are losing their jobs due to companies relocating. More than 100 companies have announced layoffs in California for 2025. Intel is cutting 15,000 jobs, PayPal 2,500 and Meta has terminated 4,000 employees. The California crisis created by Democrats is driving up home prices and mortgages and rents all over the nation and the world, making living unaffordable for all, and advocates say the crisis is far from over. Accordingly, California has more than 3.5 million illegal immigrants. Having the Southern American boarder open and not having American farmland protected, not producing beef, poultry, fish, fruit, produce and dairy in America, and without American goods and services being our number one manufactured and selling items, America has created a dangerous and significantly elevated risks to national security, national economic security, and national public health. Some people may believe that these claims are overstated, but by not routinely monitoring Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CEVs) or other security relevant alerts, such as end-of-life of machinery is how the Oroville Dam Crisis occurred in 2017. Other crises that have occurred due to neglect of critical infrastructure is the 2025 Palisades fires because Southern California ran out of water, when they are located next to an ocean and they could have simply created desalinating plants to help with the water shortage. The water is so plentiful that it is currently eroding land and causing homes to fall into the sea. #RandolphHarris 22 of 29
The American government should know all exploitable vulnerabilities and fix them prior to the situation becoming a crisis. Failure to take such mitigating actions is dangerous and significantly elevates risk to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. The American government must understand that significant time and resources must be invested in America. They must also encourage corporations to plan for both mitigating safety vulnerabilities in the short term and eliminating them in the long term. For instance, a company might begin by reaching out to the federal, state or local government and requesting tax incentives to provide security to dangerous communities, to help the government repair bridges and potholes. America needs an approach to eliminate safety vulnerabilities in American cities. There needs to be a road map by the end of 2025, outlining a prioritized approach to eliminate crisis situations in America. There is enough money to send aid to foreign nations, but the American government does not have enough money to care their infrastructure, provide adequate resources, nor end the affordable housing crisis. Nor is there enough money to fund other national critical functions (NCFs). These bad practices of putting America and Americans last is considered exceptionally risky, particularly to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. In 2024, Americans spent $100 billion on Japanese cars. #RandolphHarris 23 of 29
In an effort to help America pull through the massive national deficit, please buy American made cars. American made cars used to be the envy of the World and because American car brands are offering a wide range of options, from family SUVs to electric vehicles and luxury sedans, we are now seeing a resurging interest. American made cars are equal or superior to those made overseas. The Chevrolet Trax, for instance, is a well-designed, fuel efficient, and safe SUV. And as you know, there is no better car on Earth than 1950-1970s American Muscle Car. As an incentive to buy American made cars, President Trump plans to made interest on loans for American cars tax deductible. Americans surely make superior products, but we are buying things from other nations. American food imports have risen by 300 percent since 1999. American farmland declined by nearly 20 million acres between 2017 and 2022. As of 2022, there were 880.1 million acres of land dedicated to farming, compared to 900.1 million in 2017. The data shows there are now little more than 1.9 million farms in the country. Americans and American corporations spent $136 billion on food and beverages from other countries. It is a national security risk to lose American Farms and farmers. If there is a war, and most of our meat, produce, poultry, dairy, and fruit is coming from foreign counties, we stand the risk of starving. With war breaking out all over the World, in these uncertain times, it is very important to bring American farms back. Las Vegas is running out of buildable land and is expected to reach its maximum number of homes in 2032. So, home prices are expected to rise dramatically. #RandolphHarris 24 of 29
Additionally, with inflation rates at an all-time high, American being in an unofficial recession for about a decade, all insurance in California is becoming unaffordable. State Farm has received an approval for an emergency rate increase, which was approved by the California Insurance Commissioner, to stabilize the market and protect policyholders. Starting 1 June 2025, homeowners will see an average of 17 percent increase, rental dwellings will see an increase of 38 percent, and Condo owners will see a rate increase of 15 percents. These rate increases are due to the distressed caused by the recent wildfires, which accumulated over $7 billion in claims. Furthermore, in 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1107, also known as the Protection California Drivers Act, into law which increases the minimum auto lability limits for bodily injury to $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident. Senate Bill 1107 also increased the minimum liability limits for property damage to $15,000 per accident and the DMV deposit for uninsured drivers to $75,000. The bill went into effect on January 1, 2025. This means that drivers with existing policies with lower limits will renew at the new minimum limits on or after January 1, 2025, and insurance premiums could increase by as much as 54 percent. America is in a state of crisis right now because of mismanagement by democrats. With the median household income in Sacramento County being $88,724 and a 4-bedroom 2.5-bathroom Cresleigh home costing $798,059, how are people able to afford homes? Because an $800,000 home with a one percent downpayment of $8,000, 30-year fixed loan at 4.176 percent interest comes with a monthly mortgage payment of $4,241. #RandolphHarris 25 of 29
The maximum percentage of your gross income that you should earmark for a monthly mortgage payment is calculated at 28 percent, and no more than 36 percent of your gross income to all debts, including mortgage. If you take 28 percent of the median household income per home in Sacramento County, homeowners can only afford a mortgage of $2,070.23 per month. And if you take 36 percent of their gross income to all debts, including mortgage, they should be devoting no more than $2,661.72 a month to these debts. Mortgage lenders must be using some kind of sorcery to get buyers into these expensive homes. To afford one of these homes using traditional guidelines, a household would need to gross $11,280.24 per month or $135,362.88 per year, but the median household in Sacramento County is grossing $7,393.67 or $88,724.00 and that typically means two to four people in the home are working and contributing to the mortgage. Prices in Sacramento County are actually rivaling the Bay Area, and the Bay Aera is so expensive because they have more higher paying jobs and is a tourist destination. And with the State of California being in a budget deficit of $12 billion, Governor Gavin Newsom Granted 700,000 illegal immigrants free health care at a cost to taxpayers of $3 billion annually, while cutting vital programs for veterans, school children, the disabled and the homeless, and is proposing to fast-track his plan to build a $20 billion water tunnel beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta by eliminating environmental reviews and limit avenues for legal challenges. Gavin Newsom only cares about the environment when his policies allow him to raise taxes and restrict freedoms. Gavin Newsom has been a total tyrant with no regard for taxpayers and does not have a mind for business and should be impeached as soon as possible. #RandolphHarris 26 of 29
Meanwhile, with President Trump, we are seeing crime rates sharply decrease, and he recently secured $10 trillion in investments. If elected president for an unprecedented third term, to make housing more affordable and to offset the cost of homeowner’s insurance and auto insurance, President Trump plans to abolish property taxes. Much like the land crisis in Las Vegas, we could also run out of land to farm and will not be able to grow or cultivate our own food. We can protect American farmland and support American farmers by buying American made beef, poultry, dairy, and produce. Also, country of origin labeling is very important so Americans can know where their food is coming from and have the ability to support American farmers and ranchers. As money flows, it influences further investment. Save the land that sustains us by protecting American farmland. Once the land is built on, we lose it forever. And in the future, there may be food wars. Also, to ensure that we have farmland and buildable land for future use, we need to start limiting the number of people allowed to immigrant to America. Perhaps with the immigrants we do allow into America, there needs to be a diversity program to make sure we have a population that equally represents all races of people. If Americans continue to spend money on American products, then more need to be made to keep up the inventory. When investors notice these goods are selling, it gives them the confidence to pour more money into that local business. It shows that people want these goods made in America and pressures investors to keep these goods and services in America. The jobs stay here, the business stays in American, wages naturally increase, and more money is invested to keep up with demand. This reduces the burden on the taxpayer. When you support American businesses, that money stays in our economy and can help to reduce the national debt. The government creates debt by borrowing from businesses in the private sector or from foreign countries. It also increases the national debt by spending more than it gains in tax revenue in a fiscal year. #RandolphHarris 27 of 29
When people shop locally, more tax money stays in the economy and goes to the government. This way, it keeps more money in our national economy and keeps more jobs located in American which also sends more taxes to the government, which can again help to reduce the national debt.When you buy foreign goods, these companies usually have lighter tax loads or exemptions, meaning less money for the nation debt, plus you are helping to strengthen these foreign nations by send more money overseas. Buying American made products is also better for the environment and helps to reduce the carbon footprint because these products do not have to travel nearly as far. Furthermore, American companies and manufacturers are held to much higher standards in regard to pollution. American companies have to be more careful about air, land, and water pollution and have proper ways to dispose of waste. Moreover, please remember to respect law and order and treat your elders with the utmost dignity and kindness possible. And take your education seriously so that you will be successful in life and make your family proud. It is inborn in the human minds to wish to know. If this begins with the endless surface questions of a child’s curiosity, if it continues into deeper questions of a scientist’s probing investigation, it cannot and does not stop there. For the higher part of the mind will eventually come into unfoldment, that union of abstract reflective thought with mystical intuition, which is true intelligence, which needs and sees a view of the whole of things. And so, the knowing faculty enters the realm of philosophy. #RandolphHarris 28 of 29
As you can see, President Donald Trump and his pledge to “Make America Great Again,” is exactly what America needs to save the country and the American people. And yes, diversity is important, so you can see why it is also important to preserve blonde hair and blue eyes as the people with these characteristics are becoming a minority in America. We must think before we can understand the soul’s existence; we must understand before we can realize it. The earliest beginnings of thought, as apart from instinct, when it was itself still but a lurking tendency, belong far back in primeval time. The human intellect as we find it today, so rich and developed an instrument for the consciousness of the ego, did not arrived at this fulness without a series of graduated stages. We have had plenty of scientific thinking, business thinking, and political thinking long enough, but we have had very little inspired thinking. That is the world’s need. The intellect is cradled in selfishness but runs the evolutionary track into reason where it will one day finish at the winning-post of selflessness. As a reminder, parents, pleasure teach your children love America and be patriotic citizens and to buy goods and services made in America. It is also important to respect law and order and treat your elders with respect. “Oh, thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand between their loved home and the war’s desolation! Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, and this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.’ And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.” #RandolphHarris 29 of 29
Experience an unforgettable journey back to the time of kings and queens with this entry ticket for The Winchester Mansion in Santa Clara, California which was the residence of Sarah L. Winchester. Take advantage of this fascinating experience. After tour, there will be time enjoy the mansion’s splendor at your own pace. You might even discover secret passages.
Please come and enjoy a delicious meal in Sarah’s Café, stroll along the paths of the beautiful Victorian gardens, and wonder through the miles of hallways in the World’s most mysterious mansion.
For further information about tours, including group tours, weddings, school events, birthday party packages, facility rentals, and special events please visit the website: https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/
Please visit the online giftshop, and purchase a gift for friends and relatives as well as a special memento of The Winchester Mystery House. A variety of souvenirs and gifts are available to purchase. https://shopwinchestermysteryhouse.com/
We wish to express our gratitude to our families, ancestors, spirits, and friends and to our many associates and clients, whose lives touched our lives and whose ideas helped us to grow. We would also like to thank our employees and care takers for putting the technical ideas of this estate into conversational style, and we are, of course, extremely thank to all of our patrons for helping to keep the legacy of the Winchester Family alive. The Winchester Mystery House is full of surprises. What was your favorite, “Oooh!” moment during your visit at the mansion? (And for those of you who still have to check it off your bucket list… we will hopefully see you soon.) https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/
Harris Plumbing, Heating, Air, & Electric has been in business for 30 years. How many businesses can say that? We take pride in everything we do – no matter how big or small the service call might be. We’re here to help your home be as safe and comfortable as possible for you and your family. We take that responsibility very seriously as a company. Harris will ensure you have the information you need to decide what to do next, whatever your home is facing. We’ll perform a diagnosis and detail what issues are present before starting any work. This gives you a personalized quote and service plan specific to your home’s needs – not some random quote based on the best guess. The only way we can do our best work is to make sure we handle the issues at hand. https://www.callharrisnow.com/about-us/
BMW continues to dominate the luxury car space. With its top ranking in Consumer Reports’ Auto Brand Report Card and consistent market share growth, BMW has demonstrated its ability to produce high-performing, reliable vehicles that meet consumer demands.
BMW stands out due to its focus on driving dynamics and engineering excellence. While other luxury brands prioritize comfort and opulence, BMW is known for creating cars that are fun to drive and offer a unique connection between the driver and the machine. https://www.brianharrisbmw.com/
Randolph Harris San Francisco Taxation & Mergers
Randy advises clients with regard to business transition, taxable and tax deferred mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, restructuring, integrated tax planning, federal and state tax controversy resolution, and real estate transactions. https://www.jmbm.com/l-randolph-harris.html
The Period of Monsters Has Come to an End
Humans are continuously behaving within ever changing internal and external environments that contain critical antecedent, co-occurring, and consequating events. Completely understanding the complex interactions that occur among multiple behaviours within these continuously changing contexts can be considered the ultimate goal of behaviour assessment. An assessor cannot, however, conduct continuous observations of all relevant modes and dimensions of behaviour across all relevant contexts. Manipulative behaviour is part of a borderline syndrome. The verb “manipulate” is defined as “to influence or manage shrewdly or deviously,” as in “to manage or control artfully or by shrewd use of influence, often in an unfair or fraudulent way.” Both definitions suggest that the manipulating individual intends to influence another person by indirect, insidious, or devious means. Indeed, when they are trying to influence someone, borderline individuals are typically direct, forceful, and, if anything, unartful. It is surely the case that borderline individuals do influence others. Often, the most influential behaviour is parasuicide or the threat of impending suicide; at other times, the behaviours that have the most influence are communications of intense pain and agony, or current crises that the individuals cannot solve themselves. #RandolphHarris 1 of 22
Such behaviours and communications, of course, are not by themselves evidence of manipulation. Otherwise, if we respond to their communications of distress, we would say have to say that people in pain or crises are “manipulating” us. The central question is whether or not borderline individuals purposely use these behaviours or communications to influence others artfully, shrewdly, and fraudulently. Such an interpretation is rarely in accord with borderline individuals’ own self-perceptions of their intent. Since behavioural intent can only be measured by self-report, to maintain that the intent is present in spite of the individuals’ denial would require us either to view borderline individuals as chronic liars or to construct a notion of unconscious behavioural intent. My own experience in working with suicidal behaviour as “manipulative” is a major source of their feelings of invalidation and of being misunderstood. From their own point of view, suicidal behaviour is a reflection of serious and at times frantic suicide ideation and ambivalence over whether to continue life or not. Although the patients’ communication of extreme ideas or enactments of extreme behaviours may be accompanied by the desire to be helped or rescued by the persons they are communicating with, this does not necessarily mean that they are acting in this manner in order to get help. #RandolphHarris 2 of 22
These individuals’ numerous suicidal behaviours and suicide threats, extreme reactions to criticism and rejection, and frequent inability to articulate which of a number of factors are directly influencing their own behaviour do at times makes other people feel manipulated. However, inferring behavioural intent from one or more of the effects of the behaviour—in this case, making others feel manipulated—is simply an error in logic. The fact that a haviour is influenced by its effects on the environment (“operant behaviour,” in behavioural terms) says little if anything about an individual’s intent with respect to that behaviour. Function does not prove intention. For example, a person may quite predictably threaten suicide whenever criticized. However, the fact of the correlation in no way implies that the person is trying or intending to change the criticizer’s behaviour with threats, or is even are of the correlation. Thus, the behaviour is not manipulative in any standard use of the term. To say then that the “manipulation is unconscious is a tautology based on clinical inference. Both the pejorative nature of such inferences and the low reliability of clinical inferences in general make such a practice unwarranted in most cases. However, it is also important to remember that manipulative behaviour may be “appropriate” and normal for persons who are dealing with a hostile system. #RandolphHarris 3 of 22
Many humans have eternal conflict between self-support and environmental support. There is a good deal of this conflict in employer-employee relationships. Often an employee, even when given the authority to make decisions and to take action, cannot do so. Unable to trust his or her own ability to know general company policy and to adapt it to changing situations, the employee defers decisions to higher-ups or to so-called authorities. Such an employee refuses to depend on self-support, but must look to authorities—environmental support. On the other hand, many employers refuse to trust the individual abilities of their employees. A salesman, for example, may be treated like a machine, whose sole function is to perform within the limited framework of the employer’s sales manual. This “sales machine,” robbed of personality, treats the customer in the same depersonalized manner. Not trusting oneself for support, a manipulator tends to believe that salvation lies in the hands of others. Yet, not trusting others completely, he or she manipulates the other in an effort to have the support. The manipulator rides the coattail of the other person and then attempts to steer him or her. Refusing to drive himself or herself, the manipulator drives the driver. #RnadolphHarris 4 of 22
The operative word here is distrust. We do not trust the natural organismic balance each of us has, which would allow us to live our lives simply and feelingly. Married couples often form a complex manipulative partnership to cope with their distrust of self-sufficiency and of others. For example, a husband with a penchant for withdrawing and avoiding uses his wife, who has an inclination for blaming and attacking, as his “mouthpiece.” It is the perfect solution for the husband, who feels he is insufficient to confront others about his needs. He lets his wife convey his demands to others. Such an arrangement is a safe haven for a withdrawing and avoiding husband. His wife is on the front line, and if his demand elicits a negative or hostile response from the other, she gets the heat. And, of course, he can resort to blaming and attacking her when his manipulation has failed. It was her fault. Erich Fromm has suggested a second cause for manipulation. He reasons that the ultimate relationship between two humans is that of love and that love is knowing a human being as he or she is and loving his or her ultimate essence. We believe that this desire to love and be loved is a wonderfully healthy, innately human experience, but our manipulative inclinations to be lovable and to make lovable are sabotaging elements. #RandolphHarris 5 of 22
If loving is knowing a human being as he or she is, we fear that we are not very lovable as we truly are, and the other person is not very lovable as he or she truly is. So, we begin masking and costuming ourselves in an effort to make ourselves lovable, and we begin our attempts to change and mold others to meet our expectations of what is lovable in them. Those of you who have had extramarital relationships, have any of you ever had to cope with feelings of regret, remorse or guilt because of your extramarital affairs? When you tell lies to your husband or wife about your involvements, do you feel you are protecting him or her? Or the marriage? At first, many people feel that they would never do anything to jeopardize their marriage, the believe that they would never tell a lie, and do not even think that they. However, you have to be somewhat optimistic that life is basically going to work out. In other words, you do not start an affair with the idea of being discovered. Sure, there is this fear that it might result in injury. If their spouse did find out, some people do not believe that the individual would leave, but that it would be worse—he or she would stay and try to find some other ways to get back at them. Still, the desire to have more relationships with other people is stronger than their fear of being found out. The thought of spending forty—three years married to one lovely person and never knowing anybody else is just something that some people do not honestly envision when they take their wedding vows. #RandolphHarris 6 of 22
In our society, it is common that when you get to know somebody at great depth that the most natural thing in the World is to go to bed with him or her. The truth of the matter is many people have affairs with the people that they work with because that is where they relate to others. Whether it becomes an act involving pleasures of the flesh or not is almost immaterial. So, the idea that someday it may come out, which most people would sincerely regret, is outweighed by other considerations, probably selfish ones. Yet, being around people that you want to know well—people that are very talented, very cosmopolitan does not necessarily involve being intimate with them, too. Relationships are a way of expressing yourself at the time and in the place and under the circumstances. Certainly, pleasures of the flesh are, after all, a means or form of communication, handled in different ways depending on one’s maturity and one’s security. It may be a form of sport or a form of expression or a form of barter. Two forms for infidelity come through quite clearly. One is a desire to settle a score with their partner, to square accounts—a way of getting back at their partners for what they see as injustice or inadequacy. At the same time, it could also be a way to express culturally stereotyped attitudes. Pleasures of the flesh, of course, are only one area in which a sense of “arrested development of self” is experienced by a man or a woman after they have been married for a while. #RandolphHarris 7 of 22
People become aware that they have not had a chance to try their wings and they belatedly feel the urge to discover how far and how well they can fly. This awareness becomes focused on pleasures of the flesh, chiefly because society has made it such a charged aspect of life. It is certainly reasonable for someone to wish to catch up with himself, to experience the feelings that he—or she—feels are legitimately his and which he feels capable of achieving. However, this search for identity is a much wider problem than can be encompassed by pleasures of the flesh alone. It is just that when pleasures of the flesh are not good, when pleasures of the flesh deprivation or distress with pleasures of the flesh of any kind is occurring, it tends to dominate the individual’s feelings. Under those circumstances, many people see pleasures of the flesh as the only really important thing in their lives—they feel deprived, even cheated, of one of life’s great satisfactions. Consequently, they often become overly dramatic, indulging themselves in emotional baths, losing perspective on the totality of their lives. It is this preoccupation with pleasures of the flesh-for-the-sake-of-pleasures of the flesh that makes so much extramarital pleasures of the flesh ultimately self-defeating become in time it is the totality of an individual’s life that determines whether pleasures of the flesh will continue to be a fulfilling experience or will become a demoralizing one. #RandolphHarris 8 of 22
It would be just as reasonable, and more logical, for a man or a woman who lack a sense of self-esteem and who feels cheated of satisfaction with pleasures of the flesh to begin the search for greater happiness by undertaking achievements in other aspects of their lives—whether in a career or by cooperating in some community project or by turning to education for the achievement of new skills and greater knowledge. Out of such efforts, a sense of self materializes that may very well lead either to the improvement of existing emotional relationships or to the begging of new ones that promise more enduring satisfaction—including pleasure with pleasures of the flesh. Infidelity is a very chancy and unreliable means to use in searching for one’s identity a very chancy and unreliable means to use in searching for one’s identity, in exploring one’s deepest feelings and beliefs and responses may be, but also communicating them to someone else. This is true for many reasons, including the fact that a man and a woman who are involved in an affair generally have different investments in their relationship, and these affairs are most often conducted under less than encouraging conditions. In addition, social attitudes—including those internalized by the man and woman—make it certain that in a good number of cases, the individuals will have to cope with feelings of guilt, one way or another. #RandolphHarris 9 of 22
Either the guilt will intrude on their ability to accomplish their goals—to discover dimensions of their own personality—or it will require them to deny that the feelings exist, and in doing so, to sweep other feelings under the rug along with the discomfort of guilt. Undeniably, even so little a thing as a few kind words, and certainly a sense of companionship or—even more importantly—the first achievement of “excitement,” carries wit it a significant strengthening of motivation for change and may nurture self-esteem to a point where a man or woman have that much more confidence in their ability to develop more rewarding patterns of behaviour. However, it is very difficult to depend on a single happening, or a series of happenings, to sustain the energy, interest, courage, and zest required by a “lost” individual who is trying to develop in the important ways that he or she feels are necessary if life is to have more meaning. If they are to become real and lasting achievements, real and lasting achievement of goals which require a significant change of emotions, attitudes and habitual conduct must be carried out across a broad spectrum of one’s life. It is true that when one partner finds satisfaction in extramarital relationships, this may turn a potentially destructive relationship into a cautious friendship, at best, or supportive “acquaintanceship,” and in that sense it is better than open material warfare with all its attendant bitterness and destructiveness. #RandolphHarris 10 of 22
However, this is not marriage in the sense of two human beings with full regard for each other, sharing the wish to negotiate differences between them and developing mutual pleasures to the fullest extent possible. Making do in marriage is not fulfillment through marriage. Even, if infidelity represents the first step in a positive direction—toward making do instead of making war—its is still a long distance away from the goal of becoming committed: true to oneself and loyal and vulnerable to one’s partner. A minority of the population is afflicted with the vast majority of illnesses that come to the attention of physicians. Defective heredity or a weak constitution only partly explains this high incidence of recurrent illness. We must look as well into the ways of life of these people with a talent for sickening. Studies of the frequently ill show they share many traits. Among other things, it is found that they may simply not take care of themselves; that is, they do not eat, sleep, or exercise sensibly. Another, less obvious, factor in frequent illness is stress. Many people encounter more stress in everyday life than is objectively necessary. They find everyday interpersonal relationships lacking in satisfaction, and, indeed, positively stressing. Demanding roles are a source of such stress. #RandolphHarris 11 of 22
If persons must present themselves to others as something that they are not—if they are obliged to seem friendly when they are unfriendly, or if they are obliged to hide their real feelings and wants from others—then every moment spent in the presence of others is stressing. It is as if they are traveling incognito, with their true identity hidden. They feel that if they are “found out” by others, terrible harm will be fall them. Consequently, they trust no one and keep their guard up. Other people by their very existence then function as stressors, adding to the stress of daily life. Another factor in frequent illness is an overdeveloped sense of duty. Persons who feel obliged by their consciences to keep working at unsatisfactory jobs or to stay involved in unrewarding relationships are actively creating the conditions for their own illness. Periods of being sick may thus function as periods of respite from a dispiriting way of life. If they could change their work or their ways of relating even slightly, they would become ill less often. A brief vacation from work of family is usually less expensive than a stay of equal length at a hospital—and the vacation may forestall the illness. The will-power machinery is switched on in certain types as soon as they become aware of foibles. They resolve, and try, to keep a budget, to mix with people, to be more assertive or more lenient. If they showed an equal interests in understanding the implications and sources of their troubles, this would be fine. #RandolphHarris 12 of 22
Unfortunately, this interest is sadly lacking. The very first step, which is to see the whole extent of the particular disturbance, would go against their grain. It would indeed be the exact opposite to their frantic drive to make the disturbance disappear. Also, since they feel they should be strong enough to conquer it by conscious control, the process of careful disentangling would be an admission of weakness and defeat. These artificial efforts are bound, of course, to abate sooner or later; then, at best, the difficulty is a little more under control. All that is sure is that it has been driven underground and that it continues to operate in a more disguised form. The analyst, naturally, should not encourage such efforts but should analyze them. Most neurotic disturbances resist even the most strenuous efforts at control. Conscious efforts simply do not avail against a depression, against consuming daydreams. One would think that this would be clear to any person who had gained some psychological understanding during analysis. However, again, the clarity of thinking does not penetrate to the “I should be able to master it.” The result is that he suffers more intensely under depressions, etcetera, because, in addition to its being painful anyhow, it becomes a visible sign of his lack of omnipotence. Sometimes the analyst can catch this process at the beginning and nip it in the bud. #RandolphHarris 13 of 22
Thus, a patient who had revealed the extent of her daydreaming, while exposing in detail how subtly it pervaded most of her activities, came to realize its harmfulness—at least to the extent of understanding how it sapped her energies. The next time she was somewhat guilty and apologetic because the daydreams persisted. Knowing her demands on herself, I injected my belief that it would be neither possible nor even wise to stop them artificially, because we could be sure that they fulfilled as yet important functions in her life—which we would have to come to understand gradually. She felt very much relieved and now told me that she had decided to stop the daydreams. However, since she had not been able to, she felt I would be disgusted with her. Her own expectation of herself had been projected to me. Many reactions of despondence, irritability, or fear occurring during analysis are less a response to the patient’s having discovered a disturbing problem in himself (as the analyst tends to assume) than to his feeling impotence to remove it tight away. Thus, the inner dictates, while somewhat more radical than the other ways to maintain the idealized image, like the others do not aim at real change but at immediate and absolute perfection. They aim at making the imperfection disappear, or making it appear as if the particular perfection were attained. If, as in the past example, this becomes especially clear the inner demands are externalized. #RandolphHarris 14 of 22
Then what a person actually is, and even what he suffers, becomes irrelevant. Only what is visible to others creates intense worries: a shaking of the hand, a blush, an awkwardness in social situations. The shoulds, therefore, lack the moral seriousness of genuine ideals. People in their grip are not striving, for instance, toward approximating a greater degree of honesty but are driven to attain the absolute in honesty—which is always just around the corner, or is attained in imagination. They can achieve at best a behaviouristic perfection, such as Pearl Buck has described in the character of Madame Wu in the Pavilion of Women. Here is the portrait of a woman who always seems to do, feel, think the right thing. The superficial appearance of such people is, needless to say, most deceptive. They themselves are bewildered when, seemingly out of a blue sky, they develop a street phobia or functional heart trouble. How is that possible, they ask. They have always managed life perfectly, have been the leaders in their class, the organizers, the model marriage partners or parents. Eventually, a situation which they cannot manage in their usual way is bound to occur. And, having no other way to deal with it, their equilibrium is disturbed. The analyst, when getting acquainted with them and the enormous tensions under which they operate, rather marvels that they have kept going as long as they have without gross disturbances. #RandolphHarris 15 of 22
The contribution of intellect is indispensable. However, it is night enough. It leaves a most important part of the psyche—the intuition—still untouched. The danger of slipping into this overstress on intellectual activity and not retaining the healthy balance between it and intuitional activity, is large and real. The intellect has so dominated the modern man that his approach to these questions is first made through it. Yet, the intellect cannot provide the answers to them. They come, and can only come, through the intuition. When a difficult and important decision has to be made, the mind can impartially take in both the pros and cons, can circle all around the facts, yet in the end return baffled to where it started. Reason exerts itself in vain and only exhausts itself in such a process. The next step is to try outside advice, authority, or, if one can, intuition. The intellect may be convinced and confess to the truth but the faculty which actually recognizes it is the intuition. It is the latter’s light failing upon, and passing through, the intellect which really certifies an idea to be true. Semantic analysis and reasoned reflection help to uncover the lesser errors, the little illusions. The intellect cannot go beyond its own limitations, however; a higher faculty, insight, is needed to uncover the larger errors, the major illusions. The intellectual knowledge of the Truth is merely its shadow and not the Truth itself. #RandolphHarris 16 of 22
The Truth is a higher state of awareness which leads you out of a little personal and physically materialistic everyday life into a new World of being—the World of your higher self which transcends these things. It is a real experience and not a mere speculation. It beings with it the peace which passeth understanding of which Saint Paul spoke, frees you from anxieties, fears, and all other negative ideas. It reveals to you that God, in the sense of a Universal Intelligence and Universal Power, is actually the basis of all existence. A religion that executes its obsolete sovereign must now establish the power of its new sovereign; it closes the churches, and this leads to an endeavour to build a temple. The blood of the gods, which for a second bespatters the confessors of Louis XVI, announces a new baptism. Joseph de Maistre qualified the Revolution as satanic. We can see why and in what sense. Michelet, however, was closer to the truth when he called it a purgatory. An era blindly embarks down this tunnel on an attempt to discover a new illumination, a new happiness, and the face of the real God. However, what will this new god be? Let us ask Saint-Just once more. The year 1789 does not yet affirm the divinity of man, but the divinity of the people, to the degree in which the will of the people coincides with the will of nature and of reason. If the general will is freely expressed, it can only be the universal expression of reason. If the people are free, they are infallible. #RandolphHarris 17 of 22
Once the King is dead, and the chains of the old despotism thrown off, the people are going to express what, at all times and in all places, is, has been, and will be the truth. They are the oracle that must be consulted to know what the eternal order of the World demands. Voc populi, vox naturae. Eternal principles govern our conduct: Truth, Justice, finally Reason. There we have the new God. The Supreme Being, whom cohorts of young girls come to adore at the Feast of Reason, is only the ancient god disembodied, peremptorily deprived of any connection with the Earth, and launched like a balloon into a Heaven empty of all transcendent principles. Deprived of all his representatives, of any intercessor, the god of the lawyers and philosophers only has the value of a demonstration. He is not very strong, in fact, and we can see why Rousseau, who preached tolerance, thought that atheists should be condemned to death. To ensure the adoration of a theorem for any length of time, faith is not enough; a police force is needed as well. However, that will only come later. In 1793, the new faith is still intact, and it will suffice, to take Saint-Just’s word, to govern according to the dictates of reason. The art of ruling, according to him, has produced only monsters because, before his time, no one wished to govern according to nature. The period of monsters has come to an end with the termination of the period of violence. #RandolphHarris 18 of 22
“The human heart advances from nature to violence, from violence to morality. Morality is, therefore, only nature finally restored after centuries of alienation. Man only has to be given law, “in accord with nature and with his heart,” and he will cease to be unhappy and corrupt. Universal suffrage, the foundation of the new laws, must inevitably lead to a universal morality. “Our aim is to create an order of things which establishes a universal tendency toward good.” Spiritual self-realization is the main thing. Study of the teachings concerning cosmical evolution and the psychical evolution of man are but intellectual accessories—things we may or may not take on our journey, as we like. That part of man which reasons and speculates—mortal mind—is not the part which can discover and verify the existence of God. We are not necessarily helped or hindered on the divine path by taking up the lore of science or by becoming versed in the ways of sophistry. Once we live out our spiritual life in the heart, the rest sinks to second place. What the Overself really is defines adequate statement. For reason falters and fails before its mysterious Void. It dares not claim a capacity beyond what it actually possesses. Thus, the mystery of the World is the mystery of a soluble riddle hidden within an insoluble enigma. Nevertheless, we need not despair. For even if metaphysics is unable to explore this mysterious territory, it is at least able to point out its location. That is a definite gain. However, what is not all. What reason cannot do can yet be done by the faculty which towers transcendently above it—insight. #RandolphHarris 19 of 22
Safety officers, in one form or another, have been present in the American work force for a long time. Some of the first safety officers came out of the fire service. As safety officers, the Sacramento Fire Department and EMTs make it a priority to stay in shape. Practicing the basic exercise principles is crucial for you to develop an effective fitness-training program. The principles of exercise apply to everyone at all levels of physical training, from the Olympic champion to the weekend golfer. They apply especially to fitness training for military personnel because having standard fitness principles across the organization saves time, energy, resources—and prevents injury. If you recall the P-R-O-V-R-B-S acronym, you can easily remember the basic principles of exercise: Progression—The intensity and duration of exercise must gradually increase to improve your fitness level. A good guideline for improvement is a 10 percent gain at specified intervals. Regularity—To achieve affective training, you should schedule workouts in each of the first four fitness components at least three times a week. Regularity is also key in resting, sleeping, and following a good diet. Overload—The workload of each exercise session must exceed the normal demands placed on your body to bring about a training effect. You have often heard this expressed as “No pain, no gain.” A fitness training, such as your instructor in the Sacramento Fire Department, can help you learn to tell the difference between pain that results from an optimum level of overload and pain that indicates potential injury. Variety—Changing activities reduces the boredom and increases your motivation to progress. Recovery—You should follow a hard day of training for a given component of fitness by an easier training or rest day for that component. This helps your body recover. Another way to promote recovery is to alternate the muscle groups you exercise every other day, especially when training for strength and muscle endurance. Balance—To be effective, a fitness program should address all the fitness components, since overemphasizing any one of them may detract from the others. Specificity—You gear training toward specific goals. For example, if their training emphasizes running drills and techniques, members of the Sacramento Fire Department become better runners. Although swimming is great exercise, it will not improve a two-mile-run time as much as a coordinated running program does. #RandolphHarris 20 of 22
The Sacramento Fire Department has been using safety officers for over a century. The most common injuries for all fire service activities are strains, sprains, and muscle pain, followed by cuts, lacerations, and bruises. Considering only fireground injuries (and those that are consider moderate to severe) strains and sprains are still the most common injury type, followed by thermal burns. Generally speaking, the community image of a member of the Sacramento Fire Department and EMTs are ones of a protector or hero. Likewise, the firefighting profession is often included on my “most dangerous” top 10 lists. Historically, firefighters and EMTs have worn these images with a certain pride or swagger. More recently, the image fails to realistically depict the effect that a firefighter injury or death has on the humans involved. “Here at the Sacramento Fire Department seldom, we seldom curse when talking about the job, because the profession brings out the best in people. We have those noble ideals, and noble ideals are hard to envision when you are in the gutter. We have a purpose in life, and when we start talking about that, I think we watch our language. When we start talking about other things, then maybe we revert to more normal levels of tough talk. We love risk taking as firefighters. That attracts a lot of us. We are a nation of risk takers, who do not believe in absolute safety. Perhaps it’s in our genes from those Europeans who chose to leave an old, established life and embark on a new one at great risk. It shows up in the entrepreneurial spirit we see in our country today. I think firefighters mature on the job and realize that the reality is different from the image. #RandolphHarris 21 of 22
To help save lives and keep the community safe, if you are in an intersection when you see an emergency vehicle, continue through the intersection. Drive to the right as soon as it is safe and stop. Obey any direction, order, or signal given by a law enforcement officer, or a firefighter. Even if they conflict with existing signs, signals, or laws, follow their orders. When their siren or flashing lights are on, it is against the law to follow within 300 feet of any fire engine, law enforcement vehicle, ambulance, or other emergency vehicle. If you drive to the scene of a fire, collision, or other disaster, you can be arrested. When you do this, you are getting in the way of firefighters, ambulance crews, or other rescue and emergency personnel. The concept of professional courage does not always mean being as tough as nails, either. It also suggests a willingness to listen to other peoples’ problems, to go to bat for them in a tough situation and it means knowing just how far they can go. It also means being willing to tell the boss when he or she is wrong. As a reminder, parents, pleasure teach your children love America and be patriotic citizens and to buy goods and services made in America. It is also important to respect law and order and treat your elders with respect. To help our firefighters, pleasure donate to the Sacramento Fire Department to ensure they have all the resources they require. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. #RandolphHarris 22 of 22
Never has there been a building so talked about. You will find The Winchester Mystery House in what was once the countryside known as “Winchester Valley,” where it has left past guests feeling a little spooked passing through certain rooms. It is well known for its reputation of being the world’s most haunted location. Do you fear the dark? Does the idea of the supernatural scare you? Do you sometimes anticipate the worst that can happen to you? Do you shiver when you read about victims of violent crime and think “that could have been me?” Does life seem insane? When you walk through the twisting hallways of The Winchester Mansion, are you apprehensive about what might be around the next corner? While standing at the door-to-nowhere, have you ever worried that life may have no meaning? Are you anxious that the next day might be your last? Do your days sometimes seem irremediably gloomy? Are you afraid of dying? We have examined your case thoroughly and think you will find the antidote for your condition at The Winchester Mystery House. A daily dose of horror is just the tonic you need. If fortifies the spirit with bracing jolts of terror. It inoculates the soul against fears that hound us all. It quickens the reflexes against life’s inhospitable surprises and tempers the imagination with thoughts unthinkable. Here you will find madmen in a variety of shapes and sizes who will help make things seem more rational. Feeling a bit self-absorbed? There is nothing like a tale of Mrs. Winchester’s hauntings to give you the right perspective.
The Winchester Estate dates back to the late 19th century, and it has a history that is packed full of legends and stories of spirits. The guided post-sunset walk takes visitors through the history of the mansion, while also offering a chance to spot some of the more well-known Winchester ghosts. There are stories of a little girl playing in the hallways and tugging at bedcovers at night and a woman in white who crosses the courtyard and passes through the walls. Lightening in colours no one can name sear across the infinite and multihued sky in jagged shards the size of which no one can conceive. Alien winds scream their impossible being in warring cacophony of notes no one can ever believe at volumes none can bear. And when the winds pick up on the fourth floor of the mansion, they make an eerie whining noise. It sounds as if everything around you is screaming. Right before a quick scratching sound, then something flares. A small spot of light glides like a firefly toward you. Another flare, then a dull yellow flow. A thin man has been said to step into the light. “Found some others out there,” is all he says before disappearing before your very eyes, and then everything is absolute darkness. Outside, the winds are said to kick up; it screams across the night. Well, maybe it is the wind. We all know the story of The Winchester Mansion.
The carpenters, who worked day and night for 36 years to build the mansion, that was once nine stories high, containing as many as 600 rooms. They knew the area was dense in spiritual energy. The hallways often possessed a great river of shadows. As these men felt a moan rising from a core of solid fear, they were so afraid that they would stand frozen for the space of one deep, shuddering breath. It was believed even the objects they could see were enemies, because they were keeping secrets. They knew, but were not telling. The cold quiet of The Winchester Mansion was a familiar song. Often, Mrs. Winchester’s guests would crough down, huddling against the floor, until help arrived. The mansion is situated over the crossing of two Ley Lines. In these areas, the veneer between the physical and spirit realms is thinner and much more permeable. This permeability and natural energy allow entities to manifest much more readily than in a normal location. Any thought or action in these areas, whether positive or negative has a much stronger and more focused effect. In the case of The Winchester Mansion decades of compounded suffering, negativity and strong emotional experiences have left a marked effect on the atmosphere in and around the mansion.
Some tour guides have heard chanting coming from outside the mansion and have heard their names being called. Others have reported seeing a woman hovering in the mansion. Many who have seen Mrs. Winchester claimed that she was “supernaturally beautiful, her skin glistens, and there’s a kind of light in her eyes that you can’t look away from.” Although her journals are sometimes vague, Mrs. Winchester experienced bizarre poltergeist activity during construction. She mentions to a friend the incredible amount of poltergeist activity that occurred during the time spent building the front of the mansion. One night, when darkness fell, the mansion was filled with eerie music like nothing Mrs. Winchester had ever heard before. Creatures from her maddest nightmares filled into the Grand Ball Room in some kind of funeral procession. She watched from the hallway, terrified of being seen yet unable to turn away. The very last thing she saw was her maid at the end of the procession, following the creatures off into the darkness. Later that night, Mrs. Winchester watched the shadows of leaves on the wall and drifted into a peaceful, safe, sleep, happy that the nuisance of her waking hours was gone. The very next day, on September 5, 1922, construction efforts were suddenly stopped when the ladders several carpenters were working from were pushed away from the wall, forcing them to jump several stories. Moments later, it was discovered that Mrs. Winchester had passed away in her sleep.
Mr. Hasen, one of Mrs. Winchester’s foremen, had written about his tools getting moved to the far corners of the room when his back was turned. Mr. Hansen was left staring in disbelief at a kaleidoscope World of shifting, flickering lights, a surfaceless void with an unimaginably distant vanishing point near which huge amorphous shapes twisted and withered in a constant fury of becoming. He had seen a hint that the matter that made up the forms of this World which everyone accepted as solid and separate was in fact all one and that only probability kept everything as it was and kept our reality apart from a multiverse of others. A solitary bead of sweat formed high on his brow and trailed a meandering pattern down his cheek and through the stubble that lay below. Although the sky was clear, the moon was but a crescent; its weak glow lit only a corner of the night ceiling. Through the darkness, beyond the curtain of trees. The mansion’s cry intruded upon his thoughts. Its shrillness disturbing him from his rapture. lost in a spell of Llanada Villa, Mr. Hansen walked slowly through the mansion. Climbing the stairs, he heard a hoarse voice whisper, “And what do you dream?” He had a moment to think, to realize, that he had never felt this way before, then the emanations flooded him, carrying him away on waves of darkness. He gave in weakly to the sensations that swept over him. As the mansion cried out again, its cry pierced the night, resounding like the cry of a thousand lost souls. That night, he went to his cold bed and dreamt of men with furlined capes and armor who became fearsome beast and tore through lines of their enemies.
Although they were paid three times the going rate, provided with medical care, subsidized groceries, and lived in Victorian cottages that were once on the estate, carpenters employed by Mrs. Winchester frequently suddenly left and did not come back, never giving a reason to their departure. However, it is suspected that the vast distances in the mansion had something to so with it. These carpenters would sometimes come to work to unfamiliar walls. After working for three hours with panic on his back, every minute having seemed like an hour, one man said, “I had been through a Hell of distance and time, indeed–and the Hell is still with me.” Wandering to the window and parting the drapes, he found it to be very late. He still felt disoriented, adrift, and threatened, but he sensed that he could he was free. With his pounding heart, he walked out into the dark mansion. There were no other carpenters present, and few caretakers. Others might be afraid of ghost, but the panic had taken care of that. If you already felt menaced for no reason, then the real dangers held no terror for you. He walked for many miles, past more rooms, libraries, and long closed rooms. Then he noticed a young woman walking on the other side of the mansion. Without thinking twice, he crossed over and joined her. They stopped, and he poured out his heart, his nameless fear. She held his hands. They agreed to meet again. However, he was left once more alone on a large room, wondering if it had been real. So he cut over to the hallway and started back. The mansion rest of the mansion was deserted, too, his steps echoing hollowly on the mahogany floor. It was dark, and only the light from the windows was visible. He could hear more than see. The panic had gotten stronger again, and he needed to return to the security, if marginal, of his home.
Gradually, he became aware of a man walking about a hundred feet behind. He himself stopped and pretended to look out the window. He wanted the man to pass him. However, the man stopped when he reached him, then went down some steps to the third floor. The man smiled, opened a bag, and offered him some Brandy. He went down and accepted. When he woke up, he was lying on his stomach, which felt warm and wet. There was no pain. However, when he tried to get up, he found that he could not. So, he crawled up the steps into the ballroom on the 4th floor. The crawling went all right, at first. However, then he became weaker. And he grew conscious of the thin red trail he was leaving behind him. The panic, suddenly and forever, was gone. It had indeed been replaced, expunged, by the reality. All that was left was a certain sadness. The mansion that has survived such a long history, is a marvel to see in person. Today, it stands four stories high, and has an estimated 160 rooms, of which 110 are open for tour. There has been some restoration over the years and ongoing maintenance. Come inside the mansion to see the priceless architecture and learn of its history. The guided tours are exquisitely led by a well prepared and enthusiastic team, who make sure that you and all guests are entertained by the great stories. Take advantage of this fascinating experience. After tour, there will be time enjoy the mansion’s splendor at your own pace. You might even discover secret passages.
Please come and enjoy a delicious meal in Sarah’s Café, stroll along the paths of the beautiful Victorian gardens, and wonder through the miles of hallways in the World’s most mysterious mansion. Even if you do not believe ghost stories, you might still get goosebumps passing through the most infamous basement. Enjoy panoramic views and discover quirky features such as secret staircases, doors that open to nowhere, stairs to the ceiling, hidden trapdoors, and other unusual features.
Please visit the online giftshop, and purchase a gift for friends and relatives as well as a special memento of The Winchester Mystery House. A variety of souvenirs and gifts are available to purchase. https://shopwinchestermysteryhouse.com/
Harris Plumbing, Heating, Air, & Electric has been in business for 30 years. How many businesses can say that? We take pride in everything we do – no matter how big or small the service call might be. We’re here to help your home be as safe and comfortable as possible for you and your family. We take that responsibility very seriously as a company. Harris will ensure you have the information you need to decide what to do next, whatever your home is facing. We’ll perform a diagnosis and detail what issues are present before starting any work. This gives you a personalized quote and service plan specific to your home’s needs – not some random quote based on the best guess. The only way we can do our best work is to make sure we handle the issues at hand. https://www.callharrisnow.com/about-us/
BMW continues to dominate the luxury car space. With its top ranking in Consumer Reports’ Auto Brand Report Card and consistent market share growth, BMW has demonstrated its ability to produce high-performing, reliable vehicles that meet consumer demands.
BMW stands out due to its focus on driving dynamics and engineering excellence. While other luxury brands prioritize comfort and opulence, BMW is known for creating cars that are fun to drive and offer a unique connection between the driver and the machine. https://www.brianharrisbmw.com/
There are None so Blind than those Who Will Not See
People have a way of throwing their toxic behaviour in our way and sometimes this comes along with their toxicity. When something goes wrong in the neighbourhood, something gets vandalized, stolen, or broken into, the default answer is always, “Some kids did it.” However, it is time to reevaluate that negative stereotype because it is not always boys and girls that are doing bad things. There is this one community, where most of the people are in their 60s and 70s, some in their 50s and some even younger, and usually when there is a disturbance, something gets broken, stolen, vandalized or there is a loud party or a fight, someone doing drugs or harassing someone else it is usually an adult in their 60s or older. I have never in my life seen such a large group of immature people. The thing with children is you can usually modify their behaviour. You can threaten them with a time out, you can punish them, or you can put them on medication and their behaviour usually improves. However, with senior citizens, some of them are thugs and gangbangers and when they do something bad or get in an altercation with someone a fraction of their age, they pretend to be a weak and disabled senior citizen who can do no harm and sometimes this act works. While there are some senior citizens who are weak and cannot defend themselves, there are others who are stronger than a 20-year-old man in shape. #RandolphHarris 1 of 23
The modern human is a manipulator. She is the computer sales person, talking us into buying more “essential” extras than we could use in a lifetime, understand how to use in two, or pay for in three. He is the “responsible” parent, repeating the negative criticisms he heard as a child from his parents for the “benefit” of his own children. He is the minister, preaching in platitudes lest he offend important parishioners. The realtor assures us that a particular piece of property will make our dreams come true. The teenager assures his parents that the party planned in their home will not include booze or marijuana and that they should plan to spend the entire evening out. And even the aging parent embraces illness as a tool to manipulate the special attentions of busy sons and daughters. The manipulator is legion. The manipulator is all of us, consciously or unconsciously enjoying all the phony tricks learned between cradle and grave. In the process, we reduce ourselves and those around us into things to be controlled. Not all of our manipulating is evil, of course. Some of it appears necessary in the competitive area of earning a living. Much, however, is harmful since it masks real self-defeating tendencies that can explore into shattered lives, broken marriages, and ruined careers. #RandolphHarris 2 of 23
Manipulation, we believe, is the “social sin” that separates us from one another in our marriages, alienates us from others at our jobs, and leaves us limping through life, handicap with distorted selves. The twenty-first century has brought a deeper psychological understanding of the process by which the modern manipulator has developed a personality resistant to growth and change. We know, for example, that manipulators lack the capacity to enjoy themselves, to use their knowledge, and to achieve a sense of aliveness and satisfaction. The manipulator’s understanding of human nature becomes rigid; it focuses on the drive to control. To one degree or another this is true of most everyone—you, us, the couple down the block, co-workers, friends, relatives. Even toddling infants soon learn to drool or coo or cry with a vengeance on cue to get what they want—now! Little wonder then that the teenager, who is the most modern of modern people, feeling that life owes him or her a living and loving, refusing to meet life’s challenge, astutely picks up subtle tactics of control and seduction. Teenagers find models everywhere: in real life, in movies, on television. Some tactics they learn from father, who stereotypically plays the controlling parent because he has a secret need for “omnipotence”; some from mother, who stereotypically manipulates with guilt-provoking statements to keep the individual “tied to her apron strings.” #RandolphHarris 3 of 23
Manipulations are so much a part of our everyday life that the unskilled observer notices only the most blatant. They are like the birds that are all about us in the natural World. Do we actually identify or describe them? Manipulation can be harmful to people. Unhealthy patterns can develop in any relationship. Recognizing them can uncover abuse or stop it before it starts. If a frustration is unfair or if, on the basis of neurotic claims, it is felt unfair only then does hostility arise. And it has then the specific characteristic of indignation, or of feeling abused. The misfortune, or the injury, done then appears magnified to sometimes ludicrous proportions. If one feels abused by another person, that person suddenly becomes untrustworthy, nasty, cruel, contemptible—id est, this indignation drastically influences our judgment of others. Here is one source for neurotic suspiciousness. Here is also a reason, and an important one, for many neurotic people being so insecure in their estimates of others and for their turning so easily from a beneficial friendly attitude to one of total condemnation. If I may oversimplify, the acute reaction of anger, or even rage, may take one of three different courses. It may be suppressed hostility—appear in psychosomatic symptoms: fatigue, migraine, stomach upsets, et cetera. On the other hand, it may be freely expressed, or at least fully felt. #RandolphHarris 4 of 23
In this case the less the anger is warranted in fact, the more one will have to exaggerate the wrong done; one will then inadvertently build up a case against the offender that looks logic tight. The more openly vindictive a person is, for whatever reason, the more prone will he be to take vengeance. The more openly arrogant he is, the surer will he be that such vengeance is the doling out of justice. The third kind of reaction is to plunge into misery and self-pity. The individual then feels extremely hurt or abused, and may become despondent. “How can they do this to me!” he feels. Suffering in these cases becomes the medium to express reproaches. It is easier to observe these reactions in others than in oneself, for the very reason that the conviction of righteousness inhibits self-examination. It is in our real interest, however, to examine our own reactions when we become preoccupied with a wrong done to us, or when we begin to ponder the hateful qualities of somebody, or when we feel the impulse to get back at others. We must then scrutinize the question of whether our reaction is in any reasonable proportion to the wrong done. And if with honest scrutiny we find a disproportion, we must search for hidden claims. Provided we are willing and able to relinquish some of our needs for special prerogatives, and provided we are familiar with the special forms of our suppressed hostility may take it is not too difficult to recognize an acute reaction to an individual frustration and to discover the particular claim behind it. #RandolphHarris 5 of 23
Having seen the claims in one or two instances does not mean, however, that we are rid of all of them. We usually have overcome only those which were especially conspicuous and absurd. The process is reminiscent of a tapeworm cure in which parts of the worm eliminated. However, it will regenerate and keep sapping our strength until the head is removed. This means that we can relinquish our claims only to the extent to which we overcome the whole search for glory and all that it entails. However, unlike a tapeworm cure, in the process of coming back to ourselves every step counts. There is this young lady who was brought up in Brooklyn in a puritanical background, and she managed to be a virgin when she finished art school and came to Manhattan. She was an unbelievable 19. Then she met her husband. He was a lawyer. And they enjoyed pleasures of the flesh together. She really loved it. However, very soon, she could not accept being married to one man. She bragged about how marvelous her husband was, but she did not really love him, and found her series of extramarital relationships much more wonderful. All of these new men are marvelous to her. After 23 years of marriage to this one man, she will always love him, but she changed and cannot be with him anymore. #RandolphHarris 6 of 23
Her husband’s career as a lawyer is his number one priority and refuses to have pleasures of the flesh with her. Even on vacations, he denies her and she feels that he is sick. There is an indication that this woman equates love with money because when her husband refused to pay for therapy any long, it made her believe that he is unstable, even though he has had a steady career as a brilliant lawyer. She admits that he is brilliant and that she loves to live with him. Some sense of her self-esteem is dependent upon being free of the customary rules that apply in most people’s lives. This is clearly a marriage of convenience. Most men in these situations are aware that the wives are unfaithful. Particularly, if these men are intelligent and educated, their tendency is to be secretly relieved that their wives find ways of gratifying their pleasures of the flesh outside their marriage. These men share attitudes with wives of previous generations, who accepted as a fact their husbands’ extramarital affairs but insisted that those affairs be kept discreet. Sure, awareness is not always conscious, of course, and it can best be described as self-deception. It represents a human being’s efforts to keep his feelings in some kind of emotional equilibrium. As long as such an individual derives genuine satisfactions from being married, he—or she—is a living illustration of the old adage that there are none so blind as those who will not see. #RandolphHarris 7 of 23
I think it is the proper function of one’s intellect to be practical, to enable one to get around and do things in the service of one’s self and others. The error comes in when one’s intellect makes the first decision, which it sees as its possessions. The original meaning of “sin” is to “miss the mark” and it seems to me that this is the way in which many people miss it. When one moves through the center of the snowflake pattern—the bull’s eye–one has the feeling of hitting the mark. When a man’s intellect acts in the service of himself (which includes others), rather than itself, everything comes out well—with ups and downs but still the total is good in every respect. Sometimes a man does not wish that he had done other than he had. There are no regrets. Intellect or false-ego has not interfered with him. His troubles are take-able—acceptable, not more than he can bear. In fact, without clinging to them, it feels good to go through them, and as though without them something would be missing—like the seasons, which occur even in Hawaii. “Always” scripts follow Arachne, who dared to challenge the Goddess Minerva in needlework, and as a punishment was turned into a spider and condemned to spend all her time spinning webs. Such scripts come from spiteful parents, who say: “If that is what you want to do, then you can just spend the rest of your life doing it.” #RandolphHarris 8 of 23
“Until” or “Before” scripts follow the story of Jason, who was told that he could not become a king before he had performed certain tasks. In due time, he got his reward and lived for ten years in happiness. Hercules had a similar script: he could not become a god until he had first been a slave for twelve years. “After” scripts come from Damocles. Damocles was allowed to enjoy the happiness of being a king, until he noticed that a sword was hanging over his head, suspended by a single horsehair. The motor of “After” scripts is “You can enjoy yourself for a while, but after that your troubles begin.” “Over and Over” scripts are Sisyphus. He was condemned to roll a heavy stone up a hill, and just as he was about to reach the top the stone rolled back and he had to start over again. This is the classical “Almost Made It” script, with one “If only” after another. The “Open-Ended” script is the nonwinner or “Pie In The Sky” scenario, and follows the story of Philemon and Baucis, who were turned into laurel trees as a reward for their good deeds. Old people who have carried out their Parental instructions do not know what to do next after it is all over, and spend the rest of their lives like vegetables, or gossiping like leaves rustling in the wind. This is the fate of many a mother whose children have grown up and scattered, and of retired men who have put in their thirty years of work according to the company regulations and their parents’ instructions. #RandolphHarris 9 of 23
“Senior Citizens” communities are filled with couples who have completed their scripts and do not know how to structure their time while waiting for the Promised Land where people who have treated their employees decently can drive their big black cars slowly down the left-hand lane without being honked at by a bunch of ill-bred people in their hot rods. “Was pretty feisty myself as a youth,” says Dad, “but nowadays.” And Mom adds: “You would not believe what they…And we have always paid our…” Skinniness. Just as we deplore being above average weight in our society, so do we pity the “skinny” person. If suitable food is available, chronic underweight resulting from undernourishment is a fairly simple malady to remedy. However, many persons are thin in spite of a sizable caloric intake. There are usually reasons for inability to put on weight, for example, overactive thyroid glands or a finicky appetite; but these may derive from more basic psychological causes. An intensive personality diagnosis may disclose many unhealthy personality traits in the chronically thin person. In such instances, psychotherapy may produce as a side effect a desirable increase in weight. Sometimes simply changing the amount of exercise that the person takes will suffice to stimulate appetite and promote a desirable gain in weight. #RandolphHarris 10 of 23
There is a simplicity which is too much like stupidity to be worth cultivating. Neither tries to take in the other party’s case but each presents only his own. Neither is willing to listen or believe the other side has any case at all. So reason never really gets a chance, only ego-centered self-interest. Each is far removed from any real wish to find the truth as it really is, objectively. To limit one’s ideas to those of the environment in which he happens to be born is a common fault. Many aspirants fail to realize that they move mostly in the realm of their own personal ideas, and not necessarily in the realm of utter truth. The intellect is endlessly curious, ever wanting to know; this is why its activity is hard to still. Intellectual acumen is useful on this quest, but alone it is quite insufficient If thoughts and ideas are removed, what is left of the intellect? If not the aggregate of all these mental activities, what is it? A doctrine comes into being through theorizing by intellect or activity by feeling, that is, it is an opinion or a belief. An item of knowledge, for example scientific knowledge, is neither. The intellect has to receive truth before it can be satisfied. And, if it is to be acceptable, it requires that truth to be presented by giving reasons and using logic. The work of the intellect in tracing causes to effects, in analyzing situations and substances, in forming theories and making studies, and even in synthesizing the results of all these operation is still a limited one. #RandolphHarris 11 of 23
In the 19th Century the British Empire performed extraordinary feats of genetic transportation—squirting sperm-egg cargoes throughout the globe. By moving their dom-species domesticated adult Protestants from Scotland to Ireland, they ruthlessly compressed the barbarian teenager Catholic-feudal culture of the Emerald Isle. Faced with loos of the land Catholic gene pools were forced to migrate. Each Irish family selected its most intelligent, mobile, adaptable, attractive member to send “across the water.” This occurred one of the most successful genetic experiments in planetary history. America was flooded with sperm-egg units carefully selected for mobility-nobility. The first generation of Irish migrants threw railroads across the continent. The second generation, which blossomed after World War II, produced the first Irish-American generation of philosopher-scientists. The brilliant, innovative Irish servants who emerged in the mid-20th Century replaced the Jewish intellectuals. Before that Jewish intellectuals carried the neurogenetic signal. Since Jewish people were born out-castes, they were able to transcend hive limits and fabricate new realities. After World War II, Jewish culture became hive establishment and the role of genetic exploration fell to the Irish. The American Celts were prepared perfectly to play the role of Evolution Agents because of their intellectual history. #RandolphHarris 12 of 23
In premigration Ireland, the active intellectual person was forced into rebellion. The only educational choices for smart, young Irishmen were the alien, Rome-oriented feudal priesthood or the academies of the enemy Protestants. Young Irish woman had no educational avenues open to them. Irish brains were thus encouraged to be anti-hive. From this out-caste position, they were able to create new post-hive realities. Different sites for different rites. Kings were put to death long before January 21, 1793, and before the regicides of the nineteenth century. However, Ravaillac, Damiens, and their followers were interested in attacking the person, not the principle, of the king. They wanted another kind and that was all. It never occurred to them that the throne could remain empty forever. 1789 is the starting-point of modern times, because the men of that period wished, among other things, to overthrow the principle of divine right and to introduce to the historical scene the forces of negation and rebellion in the previous centuries. Thus, they added to traditional tyrannicide the concept of calculated decided. The so-called freethinkers, the philosophers and jurists, served as levers for this revolution. The kings themselves collaborated in this by allowing political power gradually to encroach on religious power, thus threatening the very principle of their legitimacy. #RandolphHarris 13 of 23
In order for such an undertaking to enter into the realms of possibility and to be considered legitimate, it was first necessary for the Church, whose infinite responsibility it is, to place itself on the side of the masters by compromising with the executioner—a step that developed into the Inquisition and was perpetuated by complicity with the temporal powers. Michelete is quite correct in wanting to recognize only two outstanding characters in the revolutionary saga: Christianity and the French Revolution. In fact, for him, 1789 is explained by the struggle between divine grace and justice. Although Michelete shared the taste for all-embracing abstractions with his intemperate period, he saw that this taste was one of the profound cases of the revolutionary crisis. Even if the monarchy of the ancient regime was not always arbitrary in its manner of governing, it was undoubtedly arbitrary in principle. It was founded on divine right, which means that its legitimacy could never been questioned. Its legitimacy often was questioned, however, in particular by various parliaments. However, those who exercised it considered and presented it as an axiom. Louis XIV, as is well known, rigidly adhered to the principle of divine right. Bossuet gave him considerable help in this direction by saying to the kings of France: “You are gods.” The king, in one of his aspects, is the divine emissary in charge of human affairs and therefore of the administration of justice. Like God Himself, he is the last recourse of the victims of misery and injustice. #RandolphHarris 14 of 23
Climate and culture describe the environment in which you lead. Climate refers to the environment of units and organizations, primarily those shaped by organizational and direct leaders. Culture refers to the environment of the Sacramento Fire Department as an institution and of major elements or communities within it. The Sacramento Fire Department and EMTs take care of people and maximize their performance by influencing their organizations climate. Climate is how members feel about the organization and comes from shared perceptions and attitudes about the unit’s daily functions. These things have a great impact on their motivation and the trust they feel for their team and their leaders. Climate is generally a short-term experience, depending on a network of the personalities in a small organization. The climates change as people come and go. When a firefighter says, “My last captain was pretty good, but this new one is great,” the firefighter is pinpointing one of the many elements that affect an organization’s climate. Culture is longer lasting and more complex set of shared expectations than climate. While climate is a reflection about how people think and feel about their organization right now, culture consists of the shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterize the larger institution over time. It is deeply rooted in long-helped beliefs, customs, and practices. The Sacramento Fire Department established a climate consistent with the culture of firefighters and EMTs as an enduring institution. You must also use the culture to let your people know they are part of something bigger than just themselves, that they have responsibilities not only to the people around them but also to those who have gone before and those who will come after. #RandolphHarris 15 of 23
“Our organization has gone through a tremendous change. We’ve come a long way from the old methods. We are training close to forty hours a month. And, also, now we’re a class one fire district in Sacramento County. A fireman joined our fire service three years ago. He was really turned the department around. Not only did the money help, but from his twenty years’ experience, he’s been able to give us education, to teach us how to fight fires correctly. He’s been tremendous. There’s a lot to be done. If you get called to a house fire at two or three in the morning and you’re there for three or four hours. What’s so hard about the American society’s view of firefighters is, when something has happened, whether it’s a small or large disaster, they expect you to be there. You should be there, it’s your job, why ain’t you there? And you see very little in the way of gratitude. But it still does us good to know that we’ve been able to go in there and accomplish something and save somebody’s house or save their lives in a vehicle accident, it does me a world of good just knowing I’ve been able to help somebody like that. One thing about the United States, there are many people who really care. If they didn’t care, I don’t believe you’d have such a great crew in the ambulance service or firefighting service, and all the other people who volunteer in hospitals and other services. There are always going to be people who want to help others. #RandolphHarris 16 of 23
“We have a lot of problems with our budget shortfalls. We have political problems. That’s the business aspect of it. As for the fire suppression side of it, the firegrounds run real well. We’ve been very fortunate as far as injuries on the job are concerned. In the six years I’ve been around, the only injury we’ve have was when a firefighter jumped off the back of a pumper a little early and broke his kneecaps on the tailboard of the truck. No really severe burns or major medical problems. We have had two DOAs at fires and maybe ten more at major accidents. But in the fire service itself, we’ve been really fortunate. Everybody’s goal is to work together. Before the big plane crash, we had a smaller one, a commuter plane in which nine people were killed. It was the first time I had seen anything like that. “Let no one mistake intellectual understanding for the wholeness of knowing, rather let it be to him a spur and a help to reach deeper within himself to the Overself in full surrender. The situation may be summed up thus: If the activity of thinking is directed towards external objects and inspired by the desire to attain or retain them, in binds a man to his spiritual ignorance. If, however, it is directed towards God or his divine soul and inspired by the desired to attain it, then it leads him to spiritual intuitions. To understand intellectually is good but to glimpse intuitively is better. Best of all is not merely to look at truth but to enter into it. #RandolphHarris 17 of 23
One thing we witness all the time during emergency situations is people ignoring the sirens of fire trucks and ambulances. Often times, people even try to outrun the emergency vehicles and this can create dangerous situations. Citizens, remember to give the right-of-way to any law enforcement vehicle, fire engine, ambulance, or other emergency vehicle using a siren and red lights. Failure to pull over may result in a ticket. Drive to the right edge of the road and stop until the emergency vehicles(s) have passed. When approaching a stationary emergency vehicle with flashing emergency signal lights (hazard lights), move over and slow down. If you are in an intersection when you see an emergency vehicle, continue through the intersection. Drive to the right as soon as it is safe and stop. Obey any direction, order, or signal given by a law enforcement officer, or a firefighter. Even if they conflict with existing signs, signals, or laws, follow their orders. When their siren or flashing lights are on, it is against the law to follow within 300 feet of any fire engine, law enforcement vehicle, ambulance, or other emergency vehicle. If you drive to the scene of a fire, collision, or other disaster, you can be arrested. When you do this, you are getting in the way of firefighters, ambulance crews, or other rescue and emergency personnel. Moral courage is the willingness to stand firm on values, principles, and convictions. It enables you to stand up for what you believe is right, regardless of the consequences. #RandolphHarris 18 of 23
The concept of professional courage does not always mean being as tough as nails, either. It also suggests a willingness to listen to other peoples’ problems, to go to bat for them in a tough situation and it means knowing just how far they can go. It also means being willing to tell the boss when he or she is wrong. As a reminder, parents, pleasure teach your children love America and be patriotic citizens and to buy goods and services made in America. It is also important to respect law and order and treat your elders with respect. Having the Southern American boarder open and not having American farmland protected, not producing beef, poultry, fish, fruit, produce and dairy in America, and without American goods and services being our number one manufactured and selling items, America has created a dangerous and significantly elevated risks to national security, national economic security, and national public health. Some people may believe that these claims are overstated, but by not routinely monitoring Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CEVs) or other security relevant alerts, such as end-of-life of machinery is how the Oroville Dam Crisis occurred in 2017. Other crises that have occurred due to neglect of critical infrastructure is the 2025 Palisades fires because Southern California ran out of water, when they are located next to an ocean and they could have simply created desalinating plants to help with the water shortage. The water is so plentiful that it is currently eroding land and causing homes to fall into the sea. #RandolphHarris 19 of 23
The American government should know all exploitable vulnerabilities and fix them prior to the situation becoming a crisis. Failure to take such mitigating actions is dangerous and significantly elevates risk to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. The American government must understand that significant time and resources must be invested in America. They must also encourage corporations to plan for both mitigating safety vulnerabilities in the short term and eliminating them in the long term. For instance, a company might begin by reaching out to the federal, state or local government and requesting tax incentives to provide security to dangerous communities, to help the government repair bridges and potholes. America needs an approach to eliminate safety vulnerabilities in American cities. There needs to be a road map by the end of 2025, outlining a prioritized approach to eliminate crisis situations in America. There is enough money to send aid to foreign nations, but the American government does not have enough money to care their infrastructure, provide adequate resources, nor end the affordable housing crisis. Nor is there enough money to fund other national critical functions (NCFs). These bad practices of putting America and Americans last is considered exceptionally risky, particularly to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. In 2024, Americans spent $100 billion on Japanese cars. #RandolphHarris 20 of 23
In an effort to help America pull through the massive national deficit, please buy American made cars. American made cars used to be the envy of the World and because American car brands are offering a wide range of options, from family SUVs to electric vehicles and luxury sedans, we are now seeing a resurging interest. American made cars are equal or superior to those made overseas. The Chevrolet Trax, for instance, is a well-designed, fuel efficient, and safe SUV. And as you know, there is no better car on Earth than 1950-1970s American Muscle Car. As an incentive to buy American made cars, President Trump plans to made interest on loans for American cars tax deductible. Americans surely make superior products, but we are buying things from other nations. American food imports have risen by 300 percent since 1999. American farmland declined by nearly 20 million acres between 2017 and 2022. As of 2022, there were 880.1 million acres of land dedicated to farming, compared to 900.1 million in 2017. The data shows there are now little more than 1.9 million farms in the country. Americans and American corporations spent $136 billion on food and beverages from other countries. It is a national security risk to lose American Farms and farmers. If there is a war, and most of our meat, produce, poultry, dairy, and fruit is coming from foreign counties, we stand the risk of starving. With war breaking out all over the World, in these uncertain times, it is very important to bring American farms back. Las Vegas is running out of buildable land and is expected to reach its maximum number of homes in 2032. So, home prices are expected to rise dramatically. #RandolphHarris 21 of 23
Additionally, State Farm did ask the California Department of Insurance if they could raise homeowner insurance rates by 22 percent, but this request was denied. However, in 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1107, also known as the Protection California Drivers Act, into law which increases the minimum auto lability limits for bodily injury to $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident. Senate Bill 1107 also increased the minimum liability limits for property damage to $15,000 per accident and the DMV deposit for uninsured drivers to $75,000. The bill went into effect on January 1, 2025. This means that drivers with existing policies with lower limits will renew at the new minimum limits on or after January 1, 2025, and insurance premiums could increase by as much as 54 percent. America is in a state of crisis right now because of mismanagement by democrats. If elected for an unprecedented third term, to make housing more affordable and to offset the cost of homeowner’s insurance and auto insurance, President Trump plans to abolish property taxes. Much like the land crisis in Las Vegas, we could also run out of land to farm and will not be able to grow or cultivate our own food. We can protect American farmland and support American farmers by buying American made beef, poultry, dairy, and produce. Also, country of origin labeling is very important so Americans can know where their food is coming from and have the ability to support American farmers and ranchers. As money flows, it influences further investment. Save the land that sustains us by protecting American farmland. Once the land is built on, we lose it forever. And in the future, there may be food wars. Also, to ensure that we have farmland and buildable land for future use, we need to start limiting the number of people allowed to immigrant to America. Perhaps with the immigrants we do allow into America, there needs to be a diversity program to make sure we have a population that equally represents all races of people. If Americans continue to spend money on American products, then more need to be made to keep up the inventory. When investors notice these goods are selling, it gives them the confidence to pour more money into that local business. It shows that people want these goods made in America and pressures investors to keep these goods and services in America. The jobs stay here, the business stays in American, wages naturally increase, and more money is invested to keep up with demand. This reduces the burden on the taxpayer. #RandolphHarris 22 of 23
When you support American businesses, that money stays in our economy and can help to reduce the national debt. The government creates debt by borrowing from businesses in the private sector or from foreign countries. It also increases the national debt by spending more than it gains in tax revenue in a fiscal year. When people shop locally, more tax money stays in the economy and goes to the government. This way, it keeps more money in our national economy and keeps more jobs located in American which also sends more taxes to the government, which can again help to reduce the national debt. When you buy foreign goods, these companies usually have lighter tax loads or exemptions, meaning less money for the nation debt, plus you are helping to strengthen these foreign nations by send more money overseas. Buying American made products is also better for the environment and helps to reduce the carbon footprint because these products do not have to travel nearly as far. Furthermore, American companies and manufacturers are held to much higher standards in regard to pollution. American companies have to be more careful about air, land, and water pollution and have proper ways to dispose of waste. Moreover, please remember to respect law and order and treat your elders with the utmost dignity and kindness possible. And take your education seriously so that you will be successful in life and make your family proud. It is inborn in the human minds to wish to know. If this begins with the endless surface questions of a child’s curiosity, if it continues into deeper questions of a scientist’s probing investigation, it cannot and does not stop there. For the higher part of the mind will eventually come into unfoldment, that union of abstract reflective thought with mystical intuition, which is true intelligence, which needs and sees a view of the whole of things. And so, the knowing faculty enters the realm of philosophy. As a reminder, parents, pleasure teach your children love America and be patriotic citizens and to buy goods and services made in America. It is also important to respect law and order and treat your elders with respect. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. #RandolphHarris 23 of 23
The Winchester Mystery House
Experience an unforgettable journey back to the time of kings and queens with this entry ticket for The Winchester Mansion in Santa Clara, California which was the residence of Sarah L. Winchester. Take advantage of this fascinating experience. After tour, there will be time enjoy the mansion’s splendor at your own pace. You might even discover secret passages.
Please come and enjoy a delicious meal in Sarah’s Café, stroll along the paths of the beautiful Victorian gardens, and wonder through the miles of hallways in the World’s most mysterious mansion.
For further information about tours, including group tours, weddings, school events, birthday party packages, facility rentals, and special events please visit the website: https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/
Please visit the online giftshop, and purchase a gift for friends and relatives as well as a special memento of The Winchester Mystery House. A variety of souvenirs and gifts are available to purchase. https://shopwinchestermysteryhouse.com/
We wish to express our gratitude to our families and friends and to our many associates and clients, whose lives touched our lives and whose ideas helped us to grow. We would also like to thank our employees and care takers for putting the technical ideas of this estate into conversational style, and we are, of course, extremely thank to all of our patrons for helping to keep the legacy of the Winchester Family alive. The Winchester Mystery House is full of surprises. What was your favorite, “Oooh!” moment during your visit at the mansion? (And for those of you who still have to check it off your bucket list… we will hopefully see you soon.) https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/
How Could Such a Bad thing Happen to You?
Babies not only look cute, with their big eyes, chubby cheeks and button noses, their infectious laughs and captivating scent also make them sound and smell cute. Their soft skin and waxen round limbs make them feel cute. Together, these aesthetic qualities act as a crucial mechanism that enables babies to attract us through all our senses. Baides need constant attention to survive, and cuteness is one of the main ways they get it. With our first cries, steps, and words as babies, we were set on the road to manipulation, refining and personalizing our styles as we grew into adulthood. We learned a lot from experts along the way—our parents, brothers and sisters, playmates, and teachers. However, the most effective teacher of manipulation was our fear. It is fun to observe the machination of the person at the office who obsequiously and shamelessly tries to gain someone’s favour by being sycophantic and affecting a subservient attitude, being overly agreeable and flattering to make their way to the top of the corporate ladder, only to be passed over for the BIG PROMOTION by the young Master of Business Administration (MBA) graduate hired just six months earlier, whom the sycophantic had been training. Unless, of course, you happen to be that person! If you are that person, you have spent your career—your whole life—being helpful, ingratiating, pleasing, placating, noncombative, agreeable, and passive. You managed to avoid conflict at all costs—all because you were afraid. You were afraid people would not like you. If you said no, you were afraid someone might be angry with you. You had been so nice, how could such a bad thing happen to you! #RandolphHarris 1 of 24
What about that young MBA graduate you were training who got your promotion? It was quite satisfying when he did not last a year in the job you wanted (Of course, you would never say such a thing at the office). You could see through his feigned personality. You knew he only received the promotion because he had made the boss think that you were incompetent and that the rest of the staff was lazy and needed strong, unwavering discipline and control. The entire office had been reeling from his angry outbursts whenever anything went wrong. Even when nothing was wrong, he was nasty and accusing. Everyone avoided him like the plague. No wonder he finally got fired. He had spent his short career and whole life being angry, blaming everyone but himself for failings, real and imaginary. Like you, he was afraid. However, unlike you, he was afraid that if he was not careful, he might get too close to others, become dependent on them, and get rejected and hurt. He wanted to get them before they got him. However, they got him anyway. He was alone and angry and afraid. A neighbour of his, hearing he was unemployed and looking for a job, stopped by to offer his assistance. Actually, he had been trying to get a chance to ask him out, but had never been able to engage him in a conversation of any length. He was always brusque and in a hurry. Now he had his opportunity. As he knocked on his door, he sensed he was feeling defeated and weak. #RandolphHarris 2 of 24
“I heard you were fired from your job last week and thought you might need cheering up. How about dinner tonight? There’s this great French restaurant downtown. You’ve probably never been there—it’s expensive. Great place. I entertain my clients there quite often. It’s about time you found out how the other half lives. How about it? I’ll pick you up in my new Porsche. You probably know that I’m head of sales now for the whole western division. I’m pretty busy, keeping track of everything. Can’t trust those doltish salesmen; if I turn my back one minute, everything does to hell. But if I can fit you in tonight. Maybe I can give you some pointers on how to keep a job over a night cap at my place.” Slam! The he-man hero neighbour was afraid, too. He had spent his life playing strong and competent, afraid that someone might see how weak and unsure of himself he really felt. “How dare he slam the door in my face!” he thought. “He had his chance and blew it,” he muttered out loud, catching the ear of a middle-aged woman, standing helplessly by her car that had just run out of gas. “Young man, thank heaven you came by just now. My car just stopped. I don’t know what to do. I’m late for my doctor’s appointment, and the car won’t go.” “I’m in a hurry. Maybe your car needs service. When’s the last time you had your oil changed? Let me check under your hood. This looks odd. Must be this whirligig. Looks like the fan belt is loose. You probably burned up your engine. I could fix it, but I don’t have time now. Where do you live?” #RandolphHarris 3 of 24
“A block that way. But it’s such a long block, and I feel faint. Why do these things always happen to me? What can I do now? I don’t know where to get the car fixed.” “You might have to get a new car. I only buy new cars. In the meantime, you ought to call a tow truck and get this heap off the road.” “Can’t you call a tow truck for me? I don’t know how. Besides, I feel faint. I told you I was on my way to the doctor.” This woman is afraid, as well. She is afraid to take responsibility for herself. She wants everyone else to take care of her. She has spent most of her life avoiding responsibility and can only present a litany of complaints—of what is wrong in her life and why she can do nothing to help herself. Each of these people is a manipulator, but none of them is fully conscious of that fact. Their manipulative styles provide them with some measure of success: They are able to avoid what they fear, and they are often able to manipulate others to meet their needs, but their manipulative behaviours defeat their long-term personal goals and their relationships with others. The scenarios above are only slightly exaggerated. As psychologists, we meet people everyday who behave in one or more of these four styles. The first man described above expresses phony love and caring to avoid what he fears: conflict and confrontation. His manipulative formula is “If I’m nice to everyone, avoid fights and anger, everyone will like me. I’ll get what I want, and I won’t get hurt.” He can be described as a Nice Guy, and his behaviour pattern is “pleasing and placating.” #RandolphHarris 4 of 24
The young MBA graduate expresses phony anger because he is afraid of contact and intimacy. His manipulative formula is, “If I blame and attack others frequently, I can reject them before they reject me, and I won’t get hurt.” He is a Judge, and his predominant behaviour pattern is “blaming and attacking.” The man in the third scenario expresses phony strength because he is afraid to be vulnerable. His manipulative formula is “If I am stronger than everyone else, no one can threaten me, and I won’t get hurt.” He is a Dictator, and his main behaviour patten is “controlling and dictating.” And the last woman described above expresses phony weakness because she is afraid that too much will be expected of her. Her manipulative formula is “If I am weak, others will have to help me, and I won’t get hurt.” She is a Weakling, and her primary patten of behaviour is to, “avoid and withdraw.” The caricatures described above, such monikers as “dictator” and “weakling” and all their characteristics, have limitations in helping us to abandon manipulation. Indeed, they are devices useful to describe the intricacies of manipulation, the distinct patterns of manipulative relationships, and they help create awareness of the problem. However, part of the problem of manipulators is that they see themselves and others in just such reductive terms. To help manipulators abandon seeing themselves and others as “things,” we prefer to emphasize manipulative behaviour and action rather than to emphasize manipulative caricatures. If I say that I am a bully, I have no motivation to change—a bully is what I am. However, if I say that I am acting like a bully, I can still be me as I change my bullying behaviour. #RandolphHarris 5 of 24
When we consider the manipulative types, the Judge and the Bully are described as blaming and attacking, the Dictator and the Calculator are described as controlling and dictating, the Weakling and the Clinging Vine are described as avoiding and withdrawing, and the Nice Guy and the Protector are described as pleasing and placating. These terms describe aspects of behaviour, not what might be interpreted as the essence of the person. Manipulators, whether they are functioning the person with the most authority, power, or influence in a group or organization, commanding and imposing, or as less favoured, disadvantaged, complaint and submissive, are not purposely sabotaging their goals and relationships. They are coping, albeit in unsatisfactory and self-defeating ways. As we said before, four basic conditions of every human’s emotional experience are contained in two polarities: Love—Anger, Weakness—Strength. Love and anger are opposites, but are related to each other. Weakness and strength are also opposites, but relate to each other as well. These emotional elements of human experience are also the vehicles by which with authentic love and anger or phony love and anger, with authentic strength and weakness or with phony strength and weakness. When we express our emotions truly, we are authentic. When we express them manipulatively, we are phony. We can recognize others’ phoniness more readily than we can our own. One of the goals we are focusing on is helping you to identity the manipulations you use. The other goal, equally important, is to help you discover the Self that you truly are. Ironically, your true self is as difficult for you to see as is your manipulation. That authentic self you have been mistrusting, that core of your inner being, must be recognized and trusted to overcome your manipulation. #RandolphHarris 6 of 24
Some of your manipulation is a way of life that begun in early childhood and is ingrained so deeply that you can no longer distinguish the unreal mask you wear from your real face behind it. You have the chance to develop an awareness of yourself in the context of interpersonal relations, in learning about yourself and other simultaneously to maximize your potential as well as the potentials of other people in your life. Nonetheless, perhaps the most interesting basis for claims is that of “justice.” Because I believe in God, or because I have always worked, or because I have always been a good citizen—it is but a matter of justice that nothing adverse should happen to me and that things should go my way. Earthly benefits should follow from being good and pious. Evidence to the contrary (evidence that rewards do not necessarily follow virtue) is discarded. If this tendency is presented to a patient, he will usually point out that his feeling of justice also extends to others, that he is just as indignant if injustice is done to others. To some extent this is true, but it merely means that his own need to put his claims on the basis of justice is generalized into a “philosophy.” The emphasis on justice has a reverse side, moreover, which is to make other people responsible for any adversity which overtakes them. Whether a person applies this reverse aspect to himself depends upon the degree of his conscious rightness. If this is rigid, he will—at least consciously—experience every adversity of his as in injustice. However, he will tend more easily to apply the law of “retributive justice” to others: perhaps a person who becomes unemployed did not “really” want to work; perhaps in some way the Democrats are responsible for the persecutions. #RandolphHarris 7 of 24
In more personal matters such an individual feels entitled to receive value for value given. If it were not for two factors which escape his attention. His own positive values assume exaggerated proportions in his mind (good intentions, for instance, are counted among them) while he ignores the difficulties he has brought into a relationship. And in addition, the values put on the scale often are incongruous. An analysand, for instance, may put on his side of the scale his intention to be co-operative, his wish to get rid of disturbing symptoms, his coming and paying regularly. On the analyst’s side of the scale is his obligation to make the patient well. Unfortunately, the two sides of the scale do not balance. If he is willing and able to work himself and to change, only then can the patient get well. So, if the patient’s good intentions are not combined with effective efforts, nothing much will happen. Disturbances keep recurring and the patient, with increasing irritation, will feel cheated; he will present his bill in the form of reproaches or complaints and will feel entirely justified in an increasing distrust of the analyst. The over emphasis on justice may be, but is not necessarily, a camouflage for vindictiveness. When claims are raised primarily on the grounds of a “deal” with life, usually one’s own merits are stressed. The more vindictive claims are, the more the injury done is stressed. Here, too, the injury done must be exaggerated, the feeling for it cultivated, until it looms so large that the “victim” feels entitled to exact any sacrifice or to inflict any punishment. #RandolphHarris 8 of 24
Since claims are crucial for the maintenance of a neurosis, it is of course important to assert them. This applies only toward those directed toward people, because, needless to say, fate and life have a way of deriding any assertion directed toward them. By and large the ways in which the neurotic tries to make others accede to his claims are intimately connected with the basis on which they are put. He can try to impress others with his unique important; he can please, charm, promise; he can put others under obligations and try to cash in by appealing to their sense of fairness or guilt; he can, by emphasizing his suffering, appeal to pity and guilt-feelings; he can, by stressing love for others, appeal to their yearning for love or to their vanity; he can intimidate with irritability and sullenness. The vindictive person, who may ruin others with insatiable claims, tries through hard-hitting accusations to enforce their compliance. Considering all the energies invested in justifying the claims, and in asserting them, we cannot but expect intense reactions to their frustrations. There are undercurrents of fear, but the prevailing response is anger or even rage. This anger is of a peculiar kind. Since the claims are subjectively felt as fair and just, the frustrations are experienced as unfair and unjust. The ensuing anger has therefore the character of a righteous indignation. The person feels, in other words, not only angry but the right to be angry—a feeling which is vigorously defended in analysis. #RandolphHarris 9 of 24
If by living together, as so many couples now do, is to prove socially advantageous, it will do so because it enables men and women to go beyond the novelty of exploring freedom with pleasures of the flesh to the point where they are genuinely caught up in discovering how they feel about each other as individuals, not simply as male and female partners who need each other to engage in pleasures of the flesh. A thirty-six-year-old man named Ryan has been married for thirteen years—and up to five years ago, he was into drinking in a big way. Prior to marrying, he had slept with probably three or four woman—he really cannot remember—all the way from a swinger in Tokyo to a high-school sweetheart. He had his extramarital activity two or three years into the marriage. He and his wife were living in Greenhaven—it was very bohemian then, and he fancied himself some sort of gay blade. So, he decided, he was going to get laid somewhere. And he did. And he kept on doing this for probably eight years. It was very easy—just: “Hi, come on, let’s go. Fine!” Boom. He was twenty-three when he married, his wife was twenty. Marriage was something he just was not prepared to handle then. He was like a child, and it was fun to run away. Each time, he would give himself good reason, “She doesn’t like me, I’m unhappy, we’ll get divorced and all that nonsense.” However, after he stopped smoking marijuana, there was none of that. The reality of responsibility, of commitment, suddenly hit him at that time. When Ryan stopped smoking, he became away of a whole new kind of sober sexuality with his wife, so the extramarital activities sort of went down. #RandolphHarris 10 of 24
Being in bed with his wife and being sober was an incredible experience. However, he believes that they now have entered a stage where they are living apart in a sense, during the week, and he goes home on the weekends—that arrangement seems to be the best for them. Two weeks ago, his wife, for the first time, slept with someone else. She called him and said she was freaked out, and indicated that she really needed him. So he went up there and was really surprised that his attitude was one of wanting to confront her. Instead of throwing a fit, which he would have done in the not-so-distant past, he said, “This is wonderful” because she was upset by her own action. She felt that the experience was—“unclean.” She did not like the guy really; she did not intellectually have anything in common with him, but she was lonely after being married for thirteen years. She claimed not to be aware of Ryan’s activities involving pleasures of the flesh outside of their marriage, but he highly doubts that because he said he was always working, but his status in his career and his salary tells a different story. It is important to be aware that Ryan’s attitudes are more complex than they might seem. Certainly, the procedure of choice at the moment that his wife needed his reassurance was to provide comfort, as he did, particularly in view of his own history of multiple extramarital affairs. In addition, however, if only to protect his relationship with her from which he now obtains valued benefits, since he now finds his wife tremendously more attractive in every respect, he would want to be helpful and supportive. Finally, although he does not acknowledge it, he may be expressing guilt. He could hardly help wondering whether his absence at home was one of the key factors in pushing his wife into having the kind of distasteful extramarital incident that she since described to him, and so some responsibility clearly rests on his shoulders. #RandolphHarris 11 of 24
Whatever Ryan’s real feelings were about his wife’s single act of infidelity, his remark that he found it “wonderful” that she had finally taken this step is characteristic of men who want the scales balanced in some way so that they feel justified in continuing to have outside relationships with pleasures of the flesh. This kind of man, incidentally, is often likely to cajole his wife into taking part in swinging. Characteristically, he thinks of this as a way to do what he wants without feeling guilty—but he often becomes dismayed if he discovers that no matter how reluctant his wife may have been to engage in such activities, she may very well find it more rewarding than he himself does. At that point, he is only too eager to terminate the experiment. When I feel smashed or trapped or bound or pushed, it is helpful to me to ask myself, “What illusion is fouling me up now?” The illusion is what I think about something. The facts just are. I know this most clearly through reflecting on what happens in emergencies when “there is no time to think.” If I think about it, I am lost—either I am paralyzed and can do nothing else I move and do the wrong thing. However, if respond to what is the objective view—as seen by others, or by myself seeing me after the fact, or after the reality. That is all it means: I am seen as an object. Subjectively, there is no “I” and everything is just happening. This is experience to me. As soon as “I” returns there is thinking about—or when thinking about returns, there is “I”—and experiencing is lost. #RandolphHarris 12 of 24
It is sometimes worthwhile for me to think about, but when I am aware that it does shut out the experiencing which is life itself—gentle love, interest, and many happenings—then I become more discriminating. I ask myself if this thinking-about is before or after. If it is before, then it is fantasy—like my thinking about Doctors A and X. If it is after, then I ask myself if it serves a useful purpose. Usually, I discover that it serves only ego, assuring me of the cleverness of “I.” There is not a darned thing I can do with it except use it to impress others and myself. This becomes ridiculous. Is it life to go about impressing others and myself? It may come as a surprise to ego, but in this imagery ego is servant and the inner is the master. With ego= I, it seems to me necessary to be clear which I is me. Is “the inner” less myself? Or more? When I picked up servicemen in spite of warnings not to do so, I felt that “someone else” has put my foot on the brake to stop for them, However, that “someone else” was very much me—in opposition to the value that others were emphasizing, which I felt that I should be practical and accept. At that time, this was my “inner” because I had the “outer” too. However, when I let the inner act through me, then it became my outer too and I matched. No split. No separation. No conflict. I was whole. Ego-I/intellect stopped the car and then drove it on in this World, but the knowing of that World dictated when to stop, and when to drive on. Ego is just fine when it acts as my chauffeur. #RandolphHarris 13 of 24
It seems to me that his half-I/ego/intellect is my small mind, or the small part of my mind, behind my forehead—which I think of as my “intellect” because I can do things with it. Real-I simply is and does—acts through me. When this happens, I have no choice because there is only one thing (at this moment) that I want to do. No decisions. I feel then that I am living within a snowflake pattern, myself moving through the center, all things in place around me in a beautiful design. No collisions—within me or with the outside World. I feel like a smoothly spinning top which touches an obstacle lightly and glides away, without damage to either the top or the obstacle. It feels good to have some understanding of myself, of what goes on in me. I can get into an argument (conflict) within my intellect, but this is really between other people entirely. It has nothing to do with me. I can also get into an argument between my intellect (other people in me) and me. When I accept the me, then intellect falls back into its proper place, carrying out my wishes which are identical with those of the spirit in all of us. I think it is the proper function of my intellect to be practical, to enable me to get around and do things in the service of myself and all of us. The error comes in when my intellect makes the first decision, which it can only do “practically” in the service of itself and what it sees as its possession. The original meaning of “sin” is to “miss the mark” and it seems to me that this is the way in which I miss it. I have the feeling of hitting the mark when I move through the center of the snowflake pattern—the bull’s eye. #RandolphHarris 14 of 24
The prevailing concept of the ideal body is adopted by most people as their personal body-ideal. This is the source of many somatic concerns. The most common difficulty people have with their appearance in America is being above average weight. This is also a health problem, for overweight people are more susceptible to disease than thinner people. However, the cosmetic aspects of obesity are just as acutely worried about as the physical health aspects. America is one of the few countries in the World where being above average weight is a public health problem, where food is abundant, but a slender body is cultural value. Some people seem unable to maintain their caloric intake at a level that will enable them to lose weight, and other times it is a medical condition that causes people to gain weight rapidly and makes it hard to burn off. Medication can also cause weight again, as well as injury. When a person wants to stop some behaviour pattern but finds that will power is ineffective, it is evidence that unconscious motives of great strength lie behind the behaviour. Sometimes the overweight person is overeating for reasons other than hunger. Clinical studies of chronically overweight people have show that they may have unhealthy personalities. They may, for example, be unable to derive satisfaction from their work. They may be starved for love. Rather than live with no “highs,” they resort to a very primitive type of satisfaction—that provided by a rich meal. Some obese persons are not unlike chronic alcoholics in that they are addicted to a practice that harms them at the same time that it relieves anxiety and provides immediate gratification. Like alcoholics, some obese person might make daily renewed vows to “taper off,” but they never seem to achieve this end. #RandolphHarris 15 of 24
In some cities, groups of obese people—Weight Watchers—organize as do the members of Alcoholics Anonymous; they are all dedicated to the aim of reducing, and they lend each other moral support in adhering to reducing diets. Such groups are probably the most effective means for achieving and maintaining a weight loss. However, unless the conditions, medical or psychological, responsible for the excessive appetite are removed, persons will be obliged to remain dependent upon their group membership in order to preserve their weight loss once it has been achieved. This is not an unhealthy dependency. The intellect is only the totality of transient thoughts; it is not a separate and self-existent thinker. The telephone operator in a business who attempted to manage all the departments of that business independently of the chief executive would be a usurper. The intellect is the telephone operator of our psyche and undertakes more than it is really capable of when it undertakes to decry the Soul. The intellect’s desire for total explanations of the Universe is impossible to satisfy, save with self-deception. The intellect produces thoughts without weariness. It looks for change instead of looking inside itself for its originator. To start with the data and come to the conclusion, joining the two by a series of logical steps, is the way of ratiocinating intellect. However, we need to guard against inaccuracy of thought and speech as well as against narrowness of mind and feeling. Kant saw how the mind forms its ideas under definitely limited conditions, and how it cannot help but do so, and that these ideas are merely the best it can produce under those conditions, not at all the truest ones. #RandolphHarris 16 of 24
Good leaders strive to leave an organization better than they found it and expect other leaders throughout the Sacramento Fire Department to do the same. You can create a beneficial organizational climate, prepare yourself to do well in your own duties, and help others to perform well. As good leaders, members of the Sacramento Fire Department look ahead and prepare talented firefighters and EMTs to assume positions with greater leadership responsibility in their organizations and in future assignments. The firefighter or EMT who develops people and the organization with a long-term perspective possess the following three competencies: Creates a welcoming environment. Seeks self-improvement. Invests adequate time and effort to developing individual subordinates and building effective teams. “There are times, no doubt about it, that we are knocking our heads against the wall. We speak with politicians about the fire safety of our citizens, and sometimes we get nothing in return. We know that politicians know that sprinkler systems work, that two people or more have never, ever dined in a building that is equipped with an operational sprinkler system. Yet the politicians are in the pockets of the real estate and building construction moguls who know that sprinkler installation increases their costs and diminishes their profits, and so we have hardly any residential sprinkler laws in the country, which really would have helped with the fires in Southern California. It is shameful. #RandolphHarris 17 of 24
“But then we live in a crass, statistical World, where the eight thousand or so people who are killed in firs each year are perhaps less important than the drain on our economy that would be created by reduced building profits. Pass along the costs to the consumer? It will never happen in a competitive real estate market. Sprinklers must be mandated by law by enlightened politicians. Still, our heads beat against the bricks. There are so many serious problems to be solved in the country, and we firefighters are only a one-issues lobby. And our issue is very costly. The problem of drug abuse, AIDS, illiteracy, homelessness are profound domestic challenges and good argument can be made that these issues can take priority over the problem of fire safety. The great difference is, however, that we know the answer to the fire problem. Put sprinklers in all of our shelters and we will save eight thousand lives a year. Until that happens, America’s firefighters will continue to risk their future and their families’ futures by running into a burning building where the fire is growing out of control. And they will fight those fires uncomplainingly, knowing all the while that they have been compromised by politicians.” We make the mistake of looking for a philosophical system that will confirm our preconceived beliefs and views. How few are really and sincerely seeking to establish truth; how many seek rather to establish victory. They can point out the errors in other people’s conclusions, opinions, and beliefs, but are blind to the errors their own. “Against stupidity the gods themselves strive unvictorious.” –Schiller. #RandolphHarris 18 of 24
One thing we witness all the time during emergency situations is people ignoring the sirens of fire trucks and ambulances. Often times, people even try to outrun the emergency vehicles and this can create dangerous situations. Citizens, remember to give the right-of-way to any law enforcement vehicle, fire engine, ambulance, or other emergency vehicle using a siren and red lights. Failure to pull over may result in a ticket. Drive to the right edge of the road and stop until the emergency vehicles(s) have passed. When approaching a stationary emergency vehicle with flashing emergency signal lights (hazard lights), move over and slow down. If you are in an intersection when you see an emergency vehicle, continue through the intersection. Drive to the right as soon as it is safe and stop. Obey any direction, order, or signal given by a law enforcement officer, or a firefighter. Even if they conflict with existing signs, signals, or laws, follow their orders. When their siren or flashing lights are on, it is against the law to follow within 300 feet of any fire engine, law enforcement vehicle, ambulance, or other emergency vehicle. If you drive to the scene of a fire, collision, or other disaster, you can be arrested. When you do this, you are getting in the way of firefighters, ambulance crews, or other rescue and emergency personnel. Moral courage is the willingness to stand firm on values, principles, and convictions. It enables you to stand up for what you believe is right, regardless of the consequences. #RandolphHarris 19 of 24
The concept of professional courage does not always mean being as tough as nails, either. It also suggests a willingness to listen to other peoples’ problems, to go to bat for them in a tough situation and it means knowing just how far they can go. It also means being willing to tell the boss when he or she is wrong. As a reminder, parents, pleasure teach your children love America and be patriotic citizens and to buy goods and services made in America. It is also important to respect law and order and treat your elders with respect. Having the Southern American boarder open and not having American farmland protected, not producing beef, poultry, fish, fruit, produce and dairy in America, and without American goods and services being our number one manufactured and selling items, America has created a dangerous and significantly elevated risks to national security, national economic security, and national public health. Some people may believe that these claims are overstated, but by not routinely monitoring Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CEVs) or other security relevant alerts, such as end-of-life of machinery is how the Oroville Dam Crisis occurred in 2017. Other crises that have occurred due to neglect of critical infrastructure is the 2025 Palisades fires because Southern California ran out of water, when they are located next to an ocean and they could have simply created desalinating plants to help with the water shortage. The water is so plentiful that it is currently eroding land and causing homes to fall into the sea. #RandolphHarris 20 of 24
The American government should know all exploitable vulnerabilities and fix them prior to the situation becoming a crisis. Failure to take such mitigating actions is dangerous and significantly elevates risk to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. The American government must understand that significant time and resources must be invested in America. They must also encourage corporations to plan for both mitigating safety vulnerabilities in the short term and eliminating them in the long term. For instance, a company might begin by reaching out to the federal, state or local government and requesting tax incentives to provide security to dangerous communities, to help the government repair bridges and potholes. America needs an approach to eliminate safety vulnerabilities in American cities. There needs to be a road map by the end of 2025, outlining a prioritized approach to eliminate crisis situations in America. There is enough money to send aid to foreign nations, but the American government does not have enough money to care their infrastructure, provide adequate resources, nor end the affordable housing crisis. Nor is there enough money to fund other national critical functions (NCFs). These bad practices of putting America and Americans last is considered exceptionally risky, particularly to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. In 2024, Americans spent $100 billion on Japanese cars. #RandolphHarris 21 of 24
In an effort to help America pull through the massive national deficit, please buy American made cars. American made cars used to be the envy of the World and because American car brands are offering a wide range of options, from family SUVs to electric vehicles and luxury sedans, we are now seeing a resurging interest. American made cars are equal or superior to those made overseas. The Chevrolet Trax, for instance, is a well-designed, fuel efficient, and safe SUV. And as you know, there is no better car on Earth than 1950-1970s American Muscle Car. As an incentive to buy American made cars, President Trump plans to made interest on loans for American cars tax deductible. Americans surely make superior products, but we are buying things from other nations. American food imports have risen by 300 percent since 1999. American farmland declined by nearly 20 million acres between 2017 and 2022. As of 2022, there were 880.1 million acres of land dedicated to farming, compared to 900.1 million in 2017. The data shows there are now little more than 1.9 million farms in the country. Americans and American corporations spent $136 billion on food and beverages from other countries. It is a national security risk to lose American Farms and farmers. If there is a war, and most of our meat, produce, poultry, dairy, and fruit is coming from foreign counties, we stand the risk of starving. With war breaking out all over the World, in these uncertain times, it is very important to bring American farms back. Las Vegas is running out of buildable land and is expected to reach its maximum number of homes in 2032. So, home prices are expected to rise dramatically. #RandolphHarris 22 of 24
Additionally, State Farm did ask the California Department of Insurance if they could raise homeowner insurance rates by 22 percent, but this request was denied. However, in 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1107, also known as the Protection California Drivers Act, into law which increases the minimum auto lability limits for bodily injury to $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident. Senate Bill 1107 also increased the minimum liability limits for property damage to $15,000 per accident and the DMV deposit for uninsured drivers to $75,000. The bill went into effect on January 1, 2025. This means that drivers with existing policies with lower limits will renew at the new minimum limits on or after January 1, 2025, and insurance premiums could increase by as much as 54 percent. America is in a state of crisis right now because of mismanagement by democrats. If elected for an unprecedented third term, to make housing more affordable and to offset the cost of homeowner’s insurance and auto insurance, President Trump plans to abolish property taxes. Much like the land crisis in Las Vegas, we could also run out of land to farm and will not be able to grow or cultivate our own food. We can protect American farmland and support American farmers by buying American made beef, poultry, dairy, and produce. Also, country of origin labeling is very important so Americans can know where their food is coming from and have the ability to support American farmers and ranchers. As money flows, it influences further investment. Save the land that sustains us by protecting American farmland. Once the land is built on, we lose it forever. And in the future, there may be food wars. Also, to ensure that we have farmland and buildable land for future use, we need to start limiting the number of people allowed to immigrant to America. Perhaps with the immigrants we do allow into America, there needs to be a diversity program to make sure we have a population that equally represents all races of people. If Americans continue to spend money on American products, then more need to be made to keep up the inventory. When investors notice these goods are selling, it gives them the confidence to pour more money into that local business. It shows that people want these goods made in America and pressures investors to keep these goods and services in America. The jobs stay here, the business stays in American, wages naturally increase, and more money is invested to keep up with demand. This reduces the burden on the taxpayer. #RandolphHarris 23 of 24
When you support American businesses, that money stays in our economy and can help to reduce the national debt. The government creates debt by borrowing from businesses in the private sector or from foreign countries. It also increases the national debt by spending more than it gains in tax revenue in a fiscal year. When people shop locally, more tax money stays in the economy and goes to the government. This way, it keeps more money in our national economy and keeps more jobs located in American which also sends more taxes to the government, which can again help to reduce the national debt. When you buy foreign goods, these companies usually have lighter tax loads or exemptions, meaning less money for the nation debt, plus you are helping to strengthen these foreign nations by send more money overseas. Buying American made products is also better for the environment and helps to reduce the carbon footprint because these products do not have to travel nearly as far. Furthermore, American companies and manufacturers are held to much higher standards in regard to pollution. American companies have to be more careful about air, land, and water pollution and have proper ways to dispose of waste. Moreover, please remember to respect law and order and treat your elders with the utmost dignity and kindness possible. And take your education seriously so that you will be successful in life and make your family proud. It is inborn in the human minds to wish to know. If this begins with the endless surface questions of a child’s curiosity, if it continues into deeper questions of a scientist’s probing investigation, it cannot and does not stop there. For the higher part of the mind will eventually come into unfoldment, that union of abstract reflective thought with mystical intuition, which is true intelligence, which needs and sees a view of the whole of things. And so, the knowing faculty enters the realm of philosophy. As a reminder, parents, pleasure teach your children love America and be patriotic citizens and to buy goods and services made in America. It is also important to respect law and order and treat your elders with respect. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. #RandolphHarris 24 of 24
The Winchester Mystery House
Experience an unforgettable journey back to the time of kings and queens with this entry ticket for The Winchester Mansion in Santa Clara, California which was the residence of Sarah L. Winchester. Take advantage of this fascinating experience. After tour, there will be time enjoy the mansion’s splendor at your own pace. You might even discover secret passages.
Please come and enjoy a delicious meal in Sarah’s Café, stroll along the paths of the beautiful Victorian gardens, and wonder through the miles of hallways in the World’s most mysterious mansion.
For further information about tours, including group tours, weddings, school events, birthday party packages, facility rentals, and special events please visit the website: https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/
Please visit the online giftshop, and purchase a gift for friends and relatives as well as a special memento of The Winchester Mystery House. A variety of souvenirs and gifts are available to purchase. https://shopwinchestermysteryhouse.com/
We wish to express our gratitude to our families and friends and to our many associates and clients, whose lives touched our lives and whose ideas helped us to grow. We would also like to thank our employees and care takers for putting the technical ideas of this estate into conversational style, and we are, of course, extremely thank to all of our patrons for helping to keep the legacy of the Winchester Family alive. The Winchester Mystery House is full of surprises. What was your favorite, “Oooh!” moment during your visit at the mansion? (And for those of you who still have to check it off your bucket list… we will hopefully see you soon.) https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/
The Theme of the Devil’s Pact Begins to Emerge
Imagination is a way to escape reality and fulfill unconscious desires. The role imagination plays in the search for glory may show unmistakably and directly in daydreams. In the teenager, they may have a frankly grandiose character. It is a way to bridge the gap between imagination and reality. There is for instance the college boy who, although timid and withdrawn, has daydreams about being the greatest athlete, or genius, or Don Juan. There are also in later years people like Paris Hilton, who almost constantly indulge in dreams of romantic expression, of a mystic perfection, or of a mysterious saintliness. Sometimes these take the form of imaginary conversations in which others are impressed or put to shame. Others, more complicated in their structure, deal with shameful or noble suffering through being exposed to cruelty and degradation. Frequently daydreams are not elaborate stories but, rather, play a fantastic accompaniment to the daily routine. When tending her children, playing the piano, or combing her hair, a woman may for instance see herself in much the way a tender mothers, a rapturous pianist, or an alluring beauty would be presented in the movies. In some cases, such daydreams show clearly that a person may, like Paris Hilton, constantly live in two World. Again, in others equally engaged in the search for glory daydreams are so scarce and abortive that they may say in all subjective honesty that they have no fantasy life. Needless to say, they are mistaken. Even if they only worry about possible mishaps that might be fall them, it is after all their imagination that conjures up such contingencies. #RandolphHarris 1 of 23
However, daydreams, while important and revealing when they occur, are not the most injurious work of imagination. For a person is mostly aware of that fact that he is daydreaming, id est, imagining things which have not occurred or are not likely to occur in the way he is experiencing them in fantasy. At least it is not too difficult for him to become aware of the existence and the unrealistic character of the daydreams. The more injurious work of imagination concerns the subtle and comprehensive distortions of reality which he is not aware of fabricating. The idealized self is not completed in a single act of creation: once produced, it needs continuing attention. For its actualization the person must put in an incessant labour by way of falsifying reality. He must turn his needs into virtues or into more than justified expectations. He must turn his intentions to be honest or considerate into the fact of being honest or considerate. The bright ideas he has for a paper make him a great scholar. His potentialities turn into factual achievements. Knowing the “right” moral values make him a virtuous person—often, indeed, a kind of moral genius. And of course, his imagination must work overtime to discard all the disturbing evidence to the contrary. Imagination also operates in changing the neurotic’s beliefs. He needs to believe that others are wonderful or vicious-and lo! there they are in a parade of benevolent or dangerous people. It also changes his feelings. He needs to feel invulnerable—and behold! His imagination has sufficient power to brush off pain and suffering. He needs to have deep feelings—confidence, sympathy, love, suffering: his feelings of sympathy, suffering, and the rest are magnified. #RandolphHarris 2 of 23
The perception of the distortions of inner and outer reality which imagination can bring about when put to the service of the search for glory leaves us with an uneasy question. Where does the flight of the neurotic’s imagination end? He does not after all lose his sense of reality altogether; where then is the border line separating him from the psychotic? If there is any border line with respect to feats of imagination, it certainly is hazy. We can only say that the psychotic tends to regard the process in his mind more exclusively as they only reality that counts, while the neurotic—for whatever reasons—retains a fair interest in the outside World and his place in it and has therefore a fair gross orientation in it. Nevertheless, while he may stay sufficiently on the ground to function in a way not obviously disturbed, there is no limit to the heights to which his imagination can soar. It is in fact the most striking characteristic of the search for glory that it goes into the fantastic, into the realm of unlimited possibilities. All of the drives for glory have in common the reaching out for greater knowledge, wisdom, virtue, or powers than are given to human beings; they all aim at the absolute, the unlimited, the infinite. Nothing short of absolute fearlessness, mastery, or saintliness has any appeal for the neurotic obsessed with the drive for glory. He is therefore the antithesis of the truly religious man. #RandolphHarris 3 of 23
For the latter, only to God are all things possible; the neurotic’s version is: nothing is impossible to me. His will power should have magic proportions, his reasoning be infallible, his foresight flawless, his knowledge all encompassing. The theme of the devil’s pact begins to emerge. The neurotic is the Prince Lestat who is not satisfied with knowing a great deal, but has to know everything. This soaring into the unlimited is determined by the power of the needs behind the drive for glory. The needs for the absolute and the ultimate are so stringent that they override the checks which usually prevent our imagination from detaching itself from actuality. For his well-functioning, man needs both the vision of possibilities, the perspective of infinitude, and the realization of limitations, of necessities, of the concrete. If a man’s thinking and feeling are primarily focused upon the infinite and the vision of possibilities, he loses his sense for the concrete, for the hear and now. He loses his capacity for living in the moment. He is no longer capable of submitting to the necessities in himself, “to what may be called one’s limit.” He loses his sight of what is actually necessary for achieving something. “Every little possibility even would require some time to become actuality.” His thinking may become too abstract. His knowledge may become “a kind of inhuman knowing for the production of which man’s self is squandered, pretty much as men were squandered for the building of the Pyramids.” His feelings for others may evaporate into an “abstract sentimentality for humanity.” #RandolphHarris 4 of 23
If, on the other hand, a man does not see beyond the narrow horizon of the concrete, the necessary, the finite, he becomes “narrow-minded and mean-spirited.” It is not, then, a question of either-or, but of both, if there is to be growth. The recognition of limitations, laws, and necessities serves as a check against being carried away into the infinite, and against the mere “floundering in possibilities.” The checks on imagination are malfunctioning in the search for glory. This does not mean a general incapacity to see necessities and abide by them. A special direction in the further neurotic development may make many people feel safer to restrict their lives, and they may then tend to regard the possibility of being carried away into the fantastic as a danger to be avoided. They may close their minds to anything that to them looks fantastic, be averse to abstract thinking, and overanxiously cling to what is visible, tangible, concrete, or immediately useful. However, while the conscious attitude toward these matters varies, every neurotic at bottom is loath to recognize limitations to what he expects of himself and believes it possible to attain. His need to actualize his idealized image is so imperative that he must shove aside the checks as irrelevant or nonexistent. There are over one million people locked up in mental hospitals because they cannot shut up about the crime. One thing is clear in my years with these people—the more mentally ill they are, the more they are caught in egocentricity, selfishness, and uselessness. #RandolphHarris 5 of 23
In mental hospitals, there are many relics of people with vaunted selfhood even though their World is riddles with strange influences. The more vaunted, the more riddled. It is apparent to us, but not to the mentally ills, that this diseased World is representative of them since the disease walks where they walk. They contend that it occurs only in the hospital, but when they visited a large city, there is this same monstrous business going on. It is the same thing whether we say they are diseased or their World is diseased. The two are really one. In ordinary social intercourse with others, or in the more intense experience of group psychotherapy, there is a manifest difference between the person who must explain and must defend their view from the person who enjoys and easily accepts the Worlds of other persons. The first is a bore, a difficult person, one who rouses anger or needs to be treated carefully. The second is an easier, more likeable person. In group psychotherapy one often sees the clever professional or layman who must tell, must be right, must interpret what the other person really means. A less obnoxious egotism is the one who is very concerned what to say, how a thing will be taken, whether he is understood or appreciated. These people are painfully trapped in the evaluations of others because they are so concerned for themselves. In my own little World, it has become clear to me that I am of use to others insofar as I am not concerned for my reputation. I have seen brilliant intuitive insights come out of me when I was only aware of the other person. #RandolphHarris 6 of 23
I have also seen miserable failure when I was out to prove that I was clever. I look for pride in me, and if it is there, I had best be silent. In both therapy and social relations, there is an almost mystic beauty when my self vanishes and the style, nuances of bodily movement, voice inflection and concerns of the other person fill the whole stage. I am liked best when I am not. For most of my young life, I had been told it was not okay to display anger. Thus, the journey from manipulation to mastery is not a neat, two-dimensional, passionate, random, helter-skelter journey, with our emotions swinging from one polarity to another, from love to dependency to weakness to criticalness—often many times in a matter of minutes. Exactly how the process takes place should not concern you, unless you are a therapist. All you need to be concerned with is that the process does work—and you can use it to improve the quality of your life, the dynamism of your relationships. What therapy does is start a person on the road to mastery. It starts them looking at their internal conflicts. The process of dealing with polarities goes on through life—at all times and on all fronts. Those who follow spiritual ideals will have to take their stand. Nonviolence is a good. Violence is an evil. However, in the compulsory choice between violent defense against violent aggression or passive submission to such aggression, it is often the lesser of the two evils. For the first may bring the aggressor to suffer the consequences of his crime whereas the second may condone it. The first may re-educate him to abandon his evil ways whereas the second may encourage him in them. #RandolphHarris 7 of 23
There are savage creatures, moral monsters and insane animals who look like men but have only partially risen into the human species in their passage from the lower ones. Having human faces and limbs, digestive and sense organs, is not enough to render them worthy of human classification. With a wise mercy, which need not be stretched too far but must not be stretched too little, we must temper natural desire to punish the violent criminal adequately. The pacifist who believes that his attitude will affect the war-makers and alter their attitude is as irrational as the sparrow who appeals to the hawk for his life to be spared. However, pacifism has a far sounder basis than this weak one. The adherence to nonviolence is not a sign of ignorable weakness but rather of noble wisdom. The folly of war cannot be reconciled with the dictates of reason. To use violent means for the defense of nonviolent ideals can only lead to the loss of those ideals. To use violent means for the defense of nonviolent ideals can only lead to the loss of this ideals. What is conquered by violence must be maintained by violence. Every form of totality is restrictive. Surrealism is not concerned with action, but with asceticism and spiritual experience. The profound originality of the movement is the restoration of the sacred and the conquest of unity, which make surrealism so invaluable for a consideration of the problem of rebellion. Surrealism—the fusion of a dream and of reality, the sublimation of the old contradiction between the ideal and the real. We know the surrealist solution: concrete irrationality, objective risk. #RandolphHarris 8 of 23
Poetry is the conquest, the only possible conquest, of the “supreme position.” A certain position of the mind from where life and death, the real and the imaginary, the past and the future…cease to be perceived in a contradictory sense. What is this supreme position that should mark the “colossal abortion of the Hegelian system”? It is the search for the summit-abyss, familiar to the mystics. Actually, it is the mysticism without God which demonstrates and quenches the rebel’s thirst for the absolute. The essential enemy of surrealism is rationalism. Should we dissolve contradictions in the fires of love and desire and demolish the walls of death? Magic rites, primitive or naïve civilization, alchemy, the language of flowers, fire, or sleepless nights, are so many miraculous stages on the way to unity and the philosophers’ stone. Vitality on old age depends on three factors: constitutional robustness; physical health; type of script. The onset of old age is determined by the same three factors. Thus, some people are vital at eighty and others start vegetating at forty. Constitutional robustness is a force majeure, that is, it cannot be changed by Parental programing. Physical disability is sometimes a force majeure, and sometimes a script payoff. In the “Cripple” Script it is both. The crippling itself may occur because of unavoidable physical illness, but it is welcomed because it is part of the script and fulfills mother’s injunction to end up disabled. #RandolpHarris 9 of 23
This occurs occasionally in cases of poliomyelitis in young adults, where the man in the wheel chair says: “When I knew I had polio I almost welcomed it, as though I had been waiting for something like that.” If his script called for him to be a cripple, and Nature did not help him out, he might have crashed a car. Nature’s solution is simpler to deal with. Older people may similarly welcome a stroke or a coronary occlusion, but for a different reason: not because it is part of the script, but because it relieves them of the compulsion to carry on with their script strivings. For the Child in them, these catastrophes become “Wooden Leg” or “Wooden Heart,” so that they can say to the Parent in their heads: “Even you cannot expect a man with a Wooden Leg or a Wooden Heart to carry on your witch’s curse.” Faced with a blood clot in Jeder’s brain or heart, only the most ruthless parent does not concede defeat. If a disability occurs early in life, it may fit very well into a mother’s script, or may throw it off completely. If it fits, the child will be raised as a professional cripple, sometimes with the help of outside organizations devoted to helping Crippled Children (as long as they stay cripped) or Children with Intellectual Disabilities (as long as they have an intellectual disability). (If the child recovers, the drag is due to the fact that the government subsidy usually stops.) In such cases, the mother learns to “face it,” and teaches the child to do likewise. #RandolphHarris 10 of 23
If it does not fit the mother’s script, however, she does not learn to face it. She keeps trying, and the child learns to do likewise, so that he ends up as a one-legged jitterbug, a clubfooted broad-jumper, or a brain-damaged orthopedic specialist (all these examples exist or have existed in real life). The Crippled Children’s organization and the Mentally Ill organization pitch in here, too, and are delighted if one of their proteges makes it (with outside help). If the mother’s script does not call for a physically or mentally disabled child, and the disability is so severe that it is necessarily permanent, then her life becomes a script-frustrated tragedy. If her script does call for a disabled child, and the disability is borderline, and possibly remediable, then the child’s life becomes an unnecessary, script-inflicted tragedy. Now to return to old age. If they have “Open-Ended” Scripts, even people with robust constitutions and no physical disabilities (or only minor or hypochondriacal ones) can begin to vegetate at an early age. These are commonly people living on pensions. The Parental precept is: “Work hard, and do not take any chances,” and the payoff is “After that, give up.” Once Jeder has put in his twenty or thirty years, and Santa Claus has come and given him his retirement banquet and gold watch, he does not know what to do. He is accustomed to following his script directives, but now they are exhausted, and he has no further programing in his head. Therefore, he is content to sit and wait until something turns up: Death, for instance. #RandolphHarris 11 of 23
This raises an interesting question. What do you do after Santa Clause comes? With an “Until” Script, he comes down the chimney and brings a Freedom Certificate. Jeder has fulfilled the requirements of his script, is freed of the curse by the antiscript, and is now at liberty to do what he always wanted to do since he was a little boy. However, going his own way is full of dangers, as many Greek myths attest. While he is free of his witch parent, he is also unprotected, and can easily come to grief. This is shown in fairy tales as well. A curse gives protection as well as trial and tribulation. The same witch that laid on the curse sees that the victim continues to live while he is under it. Thus, Sleeping Beauty was protected by the briar forest for a hundred years. However, the moment she woke up, and could tell the witch to buzz off, her troubles began. A handy situation is to have a double script: an “Until” Script from one parent and an “After” Script from the other. In the commonest case this reads “You cannot be free until you have raised three children” (from mother), and “After you are free you will become creative” (from father). Thus, in the first half of her life Zoe is controlled and protected by her mother and in the second half by her father. In the case of a man, the double-script directive may be the same as above, but the control and protection are reversed: Father during the first phase and Mother during the second. #RandolphHarris 12 of 23
The vegetating age are divided into three classes, and in this country the insignia are financial. Those with losers’ scripts live alone in rooming houses or rundown hotels, and are called old men and old women. Those with nonwinning scripts own and live in small houses where they are free to develop their idiosyncrasies and eccentricities, so that they are known as old characters. Those with winning scripts live in retirement homes run by financial promoters, and are called Senior Citizens, or Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer, which is how they sign their Letters to the Editor. The cure for the scriptless age is permission, but they seldom use it. There are thousands of older men living in small rooms in every large city, each of them wishing there was someone to cook for him, talk to him, and listen to him. At the same time, there are thousands of older women living under the same circumstances, wishing they had someone to cook for, talk to, and listen to. Even if the twain do happen to meet, they rarely take advantage of it, each preferring to remain in his or her familiar drab surroundings hunched over a glass or a TV set, or sitting with folded hands, waiting for a riskless, sinless death. Those were mother’s directives when they were little, and these are the directives they are following seventy or eight years later. They never took chances before, beyond a small bet at the racetrack of the stadium, so why should they jeopardize everything now? The script has vanished by its own fulfillment, but the old slogan lingers on, and when death comes, they will greet him gladly. And on the front of the tombstone, they will carve: “Gone to rest with his forebears,” and on the back it will say: “I lived a good life, and never took any chances.”. #RandolphHarris 13 of 23
They say that in this century, children will be grown in bottles, according to specifications laid down by the state and the parents, and there they will be genetically programed However, everybody is already raised in a bottle according to specifications laid down by the state and his parents, and there he is script-programed. Script-programing is easier to shake off than genetic programing, but few people exercise the privilege. For the ones who do, there can be a more inspiring tombstone. Nearly all pious epitaphs, translated into Martian, come out “Raised in a bottle, and stayed there, too.” And so they stand, row after row of crosses and other symbols in the graveyard, all with the same motto. Only here and there is a surprise: “Raised in a bottle—but I jumped out.” Many people refuse to do that, even when there is no cork. Genetic history, as opposed to political history, is a record of those moments when a successful gene pool migrates in response to swarming pressures when the hive castes out its future probes. The migrating waves produce the highest peaks of civilization, of culture, of hive philosophy and of art and science. Civilization began in the East. Shuttling up and down the spinal column from Suez to China. The great pyramids of Egypt remind us that long ago women and men looked at the stars and built enormous highways aloft. Inside the pyramids, they assembled all the instruments and comforts needed in a post-terrestrial life. The Egyptian gene pool evolved rapidly and prematurely because they had temporarily solved the four terrestrial survival problems—security, political autonomy, technological predominance and a national sociosexual mythos. The Nile Valley geography produced this early genetic probe into the future. #RandolphHarris 14 of 23
If you are not intelligent about your leadership, the best training in the World cannot make you an effective, respected leader. An intelligent firefighter or EMT is one who is mentally agile, sound in judgement, innovative, tactful, and knowledgeable. Intelligent action will get you through many difficult situations. The Sacramento Fire Department’s intelligence draws on their mental tendencies and resources, shaping their conceptual abilities. These conceptional abilities enable them to exercise sound judgement about their duties and responsibilities even before they implement their concepts and plans. They help the firefighters and EMTs think creatively and reason analytically, critically, ethically, and with cultural sensitivity. Conceptual abilities enable them to consider unintended consequences. The Sacramento Fire Department always thinks through what they expect to occur as a result of a decision. Some decisions may set off a chain of events, so they must attempt to anticipate the second- and third-order effects of their actions. The conceptual components affecting the Sacramento Fire Department’s intelligence include: Mental agility, judgement, innovation, interpersonal tact, and domain knowledge. “I met my wife in 1995, but we didn’t get married until 2000. One of the first things that got us acquainted was when I found out that she went to the same oral surgeon that I did. It wasn’t just broken teeth, I had shattered my upper jaw, I busted it in a million pieces, and I was all wired up. We didn’t meet in the doctor’s office, but once we started talking, you known when you first meet somebody, you have to have something to talk about. She had some problems and went to the same doctor, so we started talking about different ordeals. That’s what we talked about. #RandolphHarris 15 of 23
“I was crazy about the fire department, and she knew before we were married that she was going to be second to the fire department. She doesn’t tell me she worried about the dangers, but when there are firemen’s funerals on TV, she says, ‘Please don’t ever do that to me.’ I tell her I’m real careful. I am aggressive, but I’m careful. She knew about the dangers early on. We were just about to get married, we were getting ready for the pictures and the parties and all that stuff, when we had a fire in the high school library. I was on the hose with this other guy. We crawled in. You know you can take the heat before you crack the line. This guy put the nozzle on a narrow fog. If it had been me, I would have put it on a straight stream, because that stuff turns around and the steam comes right back. I was behind him, and the man behind the line takes a rose beating than the man on the nozzle, because they hit the ceiling. Everything was hot. It burned this guy and myself. So the big worry of everybody at the wedding was whether I was going to look like a wreck in my wedding pictures. I had these Dumbo ears. When the blisters went down, I still had a lot of scars, but it wasn’t so bad. But it was a big concern to her. How was I going to look? We have one, child, a two-year-old boy. He better get all the education that he can, because I think that we’re looking at two-class society—the people that have the education and the wealth, and the people that don’t have anything. I don’t know where the firefighters are going to fit in, but if firefighters don’t continue to increase their skills—and we’re heading in the right direction—in areas like hazardous materials and emergency medical, we could easily end up down there with the huddled masses #RandolphHarris 16 of 23
“My wife knows that the fire department is giving me something no one can give me, including herself. She knows it is giving me a sense of satisfaction and a sense of personal worth. You see some joker win a million-dollar lottery on TV, I don’t need that. I want to be comfortable, and I want to be secure. My wife knows it. If I ever lost this job or became crippled, I don’t know what I could do. I would have to go to a psychiatrist and have him tell me that I am worth a damn as a human being, and try to get me interested in something else. But I would have a heck of a time, and my wife realizes that.” All members of the Sacramento Fire Department are loyal, dedicated to duty, respectful, selfless, honourable, possess a great deal of integrity and display personal courage in the face of danger and adversity. You can save lives by making a donation to the Sacramento Fire Department. The proud members of the Sacramento Fire Department are committed to providing the highest quality and highest level of courteous and responsive services to the residents, businesses, and visitors of Sacramento. This is accomplished by implementing comprehensive strategies and training in fire prevention, fire suppression, emergency medical services, and all risk mitigation, including human-caused and natural disasters, emergency preparedness, emergency services and community-based fire services. The Sacramento Fire Department physical requirements for the firefighters and EMTs state that you must be medically and physically fit, and able to pass the Occupational Physical Assessment Test. #RandolphHarris 17 of 23
Therefore, physical and mental toughness are just the basic requirements. You achieve excellence when you habitually show discipline and commitment to the department’s values. Individuals and organizations pursue excellence to improve. Citizens, remember to give the right-of-way to any law enforcement vehicle, fire engine, ambulance, or other emergency vehicle using a siren and red lights. Failure to pull over may result in a ticket. Drive to the right edge of the road and stop until the emergency vehicles(s) have passed. When approaching a stationary emergency vehicle with flashing emergency signal lights (hazard lights), move over and slow down. If you are in an intersection when you see an emergency vehicle, continue through the intersection. Drive to the right as soon as it is safe and stop. Obey any direction, order, or signal given by a law enforcement officer, or a firefighter. Even if they conflict with existing signs, signals, or laws, follow their orders. When their siren or flashing lights are on, it is against the law to follow within 300 feet of any fire engine, law enforcement vehicle, ambulance, or other emergency vehicle. If you drive to the scene of a fire, collision, or other disaster, you can be arrested. When you do this, you are getting in the way of firefighters, ambulance crews, or other rescue and emergency personnel. Moral courage is the willingness to stand firm on values, principles, and convictions. It enables you to stand up for what you believe is right, regardless of the consequences. #RandolphHarris 18 of 23
The concept of professional courage does not always mean being as tough as nails, either. It also suggests a willingness to listen to other peoples’ problems, to go to bat for them in a tough situation and it means knowing just how far they can go. It also means being willing to tell the boss when he or she is wrong. As a reminder, parents, pleasure teach your children love America and be patriotic citizens and to buy goods and services made in America. It is also important to respect law and order and treat your elders with respect. Having the Southern American boarder open and not having American farmland protected, not producing beef, poultry, fish, fruit, produce and dairy in America, and without American goods and services being our number one manufactured and selling items, America has created a dangerous and significantly elevated risks to national security, national economic security, and national public health. Some people may believe that these claims are overstated, but by not routinely monitoring Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CEVs) or other security relevant alerts, such as end-of-life of machinery is how the Oroville Dam Crisis occurred in 2017. Other crises that have occurred due to neglect of critical infrastructure is the 2025 Palisades fires because Southern California ran out of water, when they are located next to an ocean and they could have simply created desalinating plants to help with the water shortage. The water is so plentiful that it is currently eroding land and causing homes to fall into the sea. #RandolphHarris 19 of 23
American government should know all exploitable vulnerabilities and fix them prior to the situation becoming a crisis. Failure to take such mitigating actions is dangerous and significantly elevates risk to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. The American government must understand that significant time and resources must be invested in America. They must also encourage corporations to plan for both mitigating safety vulnerabilities in the short term and eliminating them in the long term. For instance, a company might begin by reaching out to the federal, state or local government and requesting tax incentives to provide security to dangerous communities, to help the government repair bridges and potholes. America needs an approach to eliminate safety vulnerabilities in American cities. There needs to be a road map by the end of 2025, outlining a prioritized approach to eliminate crisis situations in America. There is enough money to send aid to foreign nations, but the American government does not have enough money to care their infrastructure, provide adequate resources, nor end the affordable housing crisis. Nor is there enough money to fund other national critical functions (NCFs). These bad practices of putting America and Americans last is considered exceptionally risky, particularly to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. In 2024, Americans spent $100 billion on Japanese cars. #RandolphHarris 20 of 23
In an effort to help America pull through the massive national deficit, please buy American made cars. American made cars used to be the envy of the World and because American car brands are offering a wide range of options, from family SUVs to electric vehicles and luxury sedans, we are now seeing a resurging interest. American made cars are equal or superior to those made overseas. The Chevrolet Trax, for instance, is a well-designed, fuel efficient, and safe SUV. And as you know, there is no better car on Earth than 1950-1970s American Muscle Car. Americans make sure superior product, but we are buying things from other nations. American food imports have risen by 300 percent since 1999. American farmland declined by nearly 20 million acres between 2017 and 2022. As of 2022, there were 880.1 million acres of land dedicated to farming, compared to 900.1 million in 2017. The data shows there are now little more than 1.9 million farms in the country. Americans and American corporations spent $136 billion on food and beverages from other countries. It is a national security risk to lose American Farms and farmers. If there is a war, and most of our meat, produce, poultry, dairy, and fruit is coming from foreign counties, we stand the risk of starving. With war breaking out all over the World, in these uncertain times, it is very important to bring American farms back. Las Vegas is running out of buildable land and is expected to reach its maximum number of homes in 2032. So, home prices are expected to rise dramatically. #RandolphHarris 21 of 23
Additionally, State Farm is asking the California Department of Insurance if they can raise homeowner insurance rates by 22 percent. If election for an unprecedented third term, to make housing more affordable and offset the cost of homeowner’s insurance, President Trump plans to abolish property taxes. Much like the land crisis in Las Vegas, we could also run out of land to farm and will not be able to grow or cultivate our own food. We can protect American farmland and support American farmers by buying American made beef, poultry, dairy, and produce. Also, country of origin labeling is very important so Americans can know where their food is coming from and have the ability to support American farmers and ranchers. As money flows, it influences further investment. Save the land that sustains us by protecting American farmland. Once the land is built on, we lose it forever. And in the future, there may be food wars. Also, to ensure that we have farmland and buildable land for future use, we need to start limiting the number of people allowed to immigrant to America. Perhaps with the immigrants we do allow into America, there needs to be a diversity program to make sure we have a population that equally represents all races of people. If Americans continue to spend money on American products, then more need to be made to keep up the inventory. When investors notice these goods are selling, it gives them the confidence to pour more money into that local business. It shows that people want these goods made in America and pressures investors to keep these goods and services in America. The jobs stay here, the business stays in American, wages naturally increase, and more money is invested to keep up with demand. This reduces the burden on the taxpayer. #RandolphHarris 22 of 23
When you support American businesses, that money stays in our economy and can help to reduce the national debt. The government creates debt by borrowing from businesses in the private sector or from foreign countries. It also increases the national debt by spending more than it gains in tax revenue in a fiscal year. When people shop locally, more tax money stays in the economy and goes to the government. This way, it keeps more money in our national economy and keeps more jobs located in American which also sends more taxes to the government, which can again help to reduce the national debt. When you buy foreign goods, these companies usually have lighter tax loads or exemptions, meaning less money for the nation debt, plus you are helping to strengthen these foreign nations by send more money overseas. Buying American made products is also better for the environment and helps to reduce the carbon footprint because these products do not have to travel nearly as far. Furthermore, American companies and manufacturers are held to much higher standards in regard to pollution. American companies have to be more careful about air, land, and water pollution and have proper ways to dispose of waste. Moreover, please remember to respect law and order and treat your elders with the utmost dignity and kindness possible. And take your education seriously so that you will be successful in life and make your family proud. It is inborn in the human minds to wish to know. If this begins with the endless surface questions of a child’s curiosity, if it continues into deeper questions of a scientist’s probing investigation, it cannot and does not stop there. For the higher part of the mind will eventually come into unfoldment, that union of abstract reflective thought with mystical intuition, which is true intelligence, which needs and sees a view of the whole of things. And so, the knowing faculty enters the realm of philosophy. As a reminder, parents, pleasure teach your children love America and be patriotic citizens and to buy goods and services made in America. It is also important to respect law and order and treat your elders with respect. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. #RandolphHarris 23 of 23
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The Drama Triangle
As neatly as we may try to package our ideas about people, the fact is, people do not fit into neat little packages. A human being is a constantly changing bundle of thoughts, fears, emotions, values, hunches, impressions, judgments, hopes and insights, all tumbling over one another with lightening speed, in no particular order and with no apparent purpose. Yet to understand this jumble, we must first pick it apart and then try to blend it all back together in a coherent whole. This process of picking apart/blending together (or isolation/integration) is as necessary to the living of our lives as it is to the understanding of psychology. Sooner or later, we must gather together our mind-boggling bundle of thoughts, feat, et cetera, and use it as something to operate from. Integrating is a crucial step. It occurs in that most vital of all places, your core. It takes in all you have learned and all you know intuitively. It is the equivalent of master. Integration involves first recognizing the differences between the master and the manipulator, and then allowing the master to take over—effortlessly. The result will be not necessarily a victory for the master or a defeat for the manipulator, but merely an armistice in our own little internal civil wars. Insights come slowly, fitfully, over many months, and in many therapy sessions. Once an insight or a breakthrough is achieved, it is common for the person to return to his or her old pattern of manipulation again and again before developing a new, more productive, pattern. #RandolphHarris 1 of 26
Developing eternal values will help us become all our Heavenly Father wants us to be. In contrast, crime is considered destructive and expensive because it not only directly harms victims through physical injury, property damage, and financial loss, but also creates significant indirect costs for society, including the need for extensive law enforcement, court systems, and incarceration, as well as the negative impacts on community safety, economic productivity, and quality of life for residents due to fear of crime. In a piece of literature called, The Man Who Watched the Train Go By, we have a conscientious clerk, subdued in his home life and in his office, apparently never thinking of anything but doing his duty. Through the discovery of the fraudulent maneuvers of his boss, with the resultant bankruptcy of the firm, his scale of values crashes. The artificial distinction between superior beings, to whom everything is allowed, and inferior ones like himself, to whom only the narrow path of correct behaviour is permitted, crumbles. He too, he realizes, could be “great” and “free.” He could have a mistress, even the very glamorous mistress of his boss. And his pride is by now so inflated that when he actually approaches her, and is rejected, he strangles her. Sought by the police, he is at times afraid, but his main incentive is to defeat the police triumphantly. Even in his attempted suicide this is the chief motivating force. #RandolphHarris 2 of 26
Much more frequently the drive toward a vindictive triumph is hidden. Indeed, because of its destructive nature, it is the most hidden element in the search for glory. It may be that only a rather frantic ambition will be apparent. In analysis alone are we able to see that the driving power behind it is the need to defeat and humiliate others by rising above them. The less harmful need for superiority can, as it were, absorbs the more destructive compulsion. This allows a person to act out his need, and yet feel righteous about it. It is of course important to recognize the specific features of the individual trends involved in the search for glory, because it is always the specific constellation that must be analyzed. However, we can understand neither the nature nor the impact of these trends unless we see them as parts of a coherent entity. Alfred Adler was the first psychoanalyst to see it as a comprehensive phenomenon, and to point out its crucial significance in neurosis. There are various solid proofs that the search for glory is a comprehensive and coherent entity. In the first place, all the individual trends described above regularly occur together in one person. Of course, one or another element may so predominate as to make us speak loosely of, say, an ambitious person, or of a dreamer. However, that does not mean that the dominance of one element indicates the absence of others. #RandolphHarris 3 of 26
The ambitious person will have his grandiose image of himself too; the dreamer will want realistic supremacy, even though the latter factor may be apparent only in the way in which his pride is offended by the success of others. Furthermore, all the individual trends involved are so closely related that the prevailing trend may change during the lifetime of a given person. He may turn from glamorous daydreams to being the perfect father and employer, and again to being the greatest at intimate passions of all times. Lately, they all have in common two general characteristics, both understandable from the genesis and the functions of the whole phenomenon: their compulsive nature and their imaginative character. Both have been mentioned, but it is desirable to have a completer and more succinct picture of their meaning. Their compulsive nature stems from the fact that the self-idealization (and the whole search for glory developing as its sequel) is a neurotic solution. When we call a drive compulsive, we mean the opposite of spontaneous wishes or strivings. The latter are an expression of the real self; the former are determined by the inner necessities of the neurotic structure. The individual must abide by them regardless of his real wishes, feelings, or interests lest he incur anxiety, feel torn by conflicts, be overwhelmed by guilt feelings, feel rejected by others, et cetera. #RandolphHarris 4 of 26
In other words, the difference between spontaneous and compulsive is one between “I want” and “I must in order to avoid some danger.” Although the individual may consciously feel his ambition or his standards of perfection to be what he wants to attain, he is actually driven to attain it. The need for glory has him in its clutches. Since he himself is unaware of the difference between wanting and being driven, we must establish criteria for a distinction between the two. The most decisive one is the fact that he is driven on the road to glory with an utter disregard for himself, for his best interests. (I remember, for example, an ambitious girl, aged ten, who thought she would rather be blind than not become the first in her class.) We have reason to wonder whether more human lives—literally and figuratively—are not sacrificed on the altar of glory then for any other reason. John Gabriel Borkman died when he started to doubt the validity and the possibility of realizing his grandiose mission. Here a truly tragic element enters into the picture. If we sacrifice ourselves for a cause which we, and most healthy people, can realistically find constructive in terms of its value to human beings, that is certainly tragic, but also meaningful. If we fritter away our lives enslaved to the phantom of glory for reasons unknown to ourselves, that assumes the unrelieved proportion of tragic waste—the more so, the more valuable these lives potentially are. #RandolphHarris 5 of 26
Ego and l’atutre moi can be seen as one or split into two. Often ego overlooks the wild utterances of its other side. Worse yet, it may fight against them. All psychopathology seems of this nature. What is not accepted as truly one’s own returns to plague one as a psychic or psychosomatic symptom. It becomes a thorn in the side made thorny by one’s rejection of it. Schizophrenia is an example of the revolution of l’autre moi. It musters force and descends on hapless ego, buffeting it with hallucinations and misperceptions so that vaunted ego can hardly find the rea World anymore. The chronic schizophrenic is a sad and comic picture of a tiny ego claiming victory while all the while pronouncing the very words of l’autre moi. One schizophrenic aptly saw a giant beast wearing pants like a man, having in its long snout-jaw a tiny man which it endlessly tossed around, neither spitting man out into the World nor swallowing him in death. Such a monster I can appreciate and respect. This was an accurate picture of this man’s state—a hapless victim of a monster. This is the end result of the long road of the little ego that cannot meet or learn from its other side. The servant who shares in the wealth of his master enjoys peace. The ego self is a small segment of self, merely the self of public places in a World that is mostly private. #RandolphHarris 6 of 26
If ego and l’autre moi are seen as one, then the conception of self is enlarged. In spite of extensive training to express one’s self in a language, one would need to accept an inner native ability and predilection for representing one’s state in another primal and even archaic language. In this older language, endless images of the World or phrases of the World language are used to faithfully represent one’s state. Here the difficulty lies. Can I speak a language not taught me, a rich language, faithfully showing myself even when I am relatively lost and ignorant? And how can I do this effortlessly? To do this one has to let go of a conventional picture of the self to permit this effortless, wiser one to stand forth. Were I a primitive, I might pray to the inner one, seeking its guidance in signs. However, as a psychologist, I stand in awesome respect for its richness and its spontaneous wisdom. It is appropriate perhaps simply to notice, describe and respect what lies beyond the bounds of struggling ego. Gabriel Marcel describes a mystery as what transcends the data given us. Is the innermost faculty a symbolic mirror which can but represent? Since it lies at the threshold of what we know ourselves to be, and it implies more than can be understood, this faculty deserves respect. There is much more than could be said, some of it requiring many images and dreams to substantiate. One is that this inner self seems to have different values from the ego. #RandolphHarris 7 of 26
What these inner values are cannot be described easily though they seem to involve inner truth, inner worth, and inner uses that transcend ordinary values in the World. Certainly, the inner can be more critical of ourselves and our motives than we are inclined to be. The pursuit of nonviolence in the international field is like the pursuit of politico-economic utopia—a dream. It is laudably idealistic but, unfortunately, it is also ill-founded. The pacifism which preaches a total and absolute nonviolence, applicable all the time and in all situations, fails to recognize what is written all over the universe—the law of opposites. It is their balance which holds all things in the World, all creatures in Nature, together. In human life their conflict breeds violence, and their recession, peace. War can change its form, can lose its brutality, can be lifted to a higher level altogether where words displace weapons, and this will certainly happen. However, war at worst friction at best, will not disappear so long as the ego in man with its negative emotions is his ruler. The common attitude which thoughtlessly proclaims that everything on one side of a case is good and everything on the other is bad, cannot be adopted by a philosopher. For it is dictated by the unconscious complexes of egoism. It brushes aside what is unpleasing or unselfish. It is not honestly concerned, as he is, with truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. #RandolphHarris 8 of 26
A wise student, therefore, will not accept the demand to choose between two extremes. He will take something from each but tie himself to neither. The part of a fanatic who forces all questions into an “either-or” steel frame is not for him. These sharp divisions into two opposite camps are uncalled for. There is a third alternative which not only combines their own best features but also rises superior to them both. Philosophy seeks this higher view as the outcome of its refusal to take a partisan one, for partisan views contain truth but, because they are too prejudiced or too exaggerated or too one-sided, they also contain untruth. Thus, he will never make the common and harmful error of confusing sentimentality with spirituality. The propagation of the doctrine of pacifist nonviolence as a universal ethic arises out of such an error. Pacifism is a dream. The only practical rule is to meet force with force, to deal firmly when you are dealing with ruthless men, and to renounce the use of violence only when you are dealing with nonviolent men. So it is that while mystical ethics lend themselves to conscientious objections to war, such an attitude is defective from the philosophic standpoint. The philosophic student must be guided by the ideal of service and should not hesitate about the form of service whether it be soldiering or otherwise. Nevertheless, it is necessary to be tolerant and respect the inner voice of others. #RandolphHarris 9 of 26
Certainly, the surrealists wanted to profess materialism. “We are pleased to recognize as one of the prime causes of the muntin non board the battleship Potemkin that terrible piece of meat.” However, there is not with them, as with the Marxists, a feeling of friendship, even intellectual, for that piece of meat. Putrid meat typifies only the real World, which in fact gives birth to revolt, but against itself. It explains nothing, even though it justifies everything. Revolution, for the surrealists, was not an end to be realized day by day, in action, but an absolute and consolatory myth. It was “the real life, like love,” of which Eluard spoke, who at that time had no idea that his friend Kalandra would die of that sort of life. They wanted the “communism of genius,” not the other form of Communism. These peculiar Marxists declared themselves in rebellion against history and extolled the heroic individual. “History is governed by laws, which are conditioned by the cowardice of individuals.” Andre Breton wanted revolution and love together—and they are incompatible. Revolution consists in loving a man who does not yet exist. If he really loves, however, he who loves a living being can only consent to die for the sake of the being he loves. In reality, revolution for Andre Breton was only a particular aspect of rebellion, while for Marxists and, in general, for all political persuasion, only the contrary is true. #RandolphHarris 10 of 26
Mr. Breton was not trying to create, by action, the promised land that was supposed to crown history. One of the fundamental theses of surrealism is, in fact, that there is no salvation. The advantage of revolution was not that it gives mankind happiness, “abominable material comfort.” On the contrary, according to Mr. Breton, it should purify and illuminate man’s tragic condition. World revolution and the terrible sacrifices it implies would only bring one advantage: “preventing the completely artificial precariousness of the social condition from screening the real precariousness of the human condition.” Quite simply, for Mr. Breton, this form of progress was excessive. One might as well say that revolution should be enrolled in the service of the inner asceticism by which individual men can transfigure reality into the supernatural, “the brilliant revenge of man’s imagination.” With Andre Breton, the supernatural holds the same place as the rational does with Hegel. Thus, it would be impossible to imagine a more complete antithesis to the political philosophy of Marxism. The lengthy hesitations of those whom Artaud called the Amiels or revolutions are easily explained. The surrealists were more different from Marx than were reactionaries like Joseph de Maistre, for example. The reactionaries made use of the tragedy of existence to reject revolution—in other words, to preserve a historical situation. The Marxists made us of it to justify revolution—in other words, to preserve a historical situation. Both make use of the human tragedy to further their pragmatic ends. However, Mr. Breton made use of the revolution to consummate the tragedy and, in spite of the tile of his magazine, made use of the revolution to further the surrealist adventure. #RandolphHarris 11 of 26
Evolutionary agent Werner von Braun was born of a noble family in Silesian Germany. Members of predom castes born to aristocratic gene pools at times of technological advance are unusually free to attain stage thirteen Me-generation Self-indulgence and stage fourteen self-actualized status and this choose—id est, are allowed to follow DNA intuitions—to select their robot-role. Von Braun’s mother, another Evolutionary Agent, encouraged her son to study the stars. “For my confirmation,” confided von Braun, “I got a telescope. My mother thought this would make the best gift.” According to biographer Shirley Thomas, “Through this hobby, he happened upon an article in an astronomy magazine that crystallized the patterns his life should take. He relates, ‘I don’t remember the name of the magazine or the author, but the article described an imaginary voyage to the moon. It filled me with a romantic urge. Interplanetary travel! Here was a task worth dedicating one’s life to! Not just to stare through a telescope at the moon and the planets but to soar through the heavens and actually explore the mysterious universe. I new how Columbus had felt.” Reflect on this amazing statement. This preadolescent larval understood how an Evolutionary Agent, who lived 450 years before him, felt about his genetic task. Columbus was clear about his destiny, his obligation to the species. However, the significance of his genetic clarity is, of course, lost upon most biographers. That the young von Braun responded to the genetic imperative behind the Columbus mission is comforting evidence that pre-programmed nervous systems can be activated in preadolescence to extraordinary futique missions. #RandolphHarris 12 of 26
During the period if maturity, the dramatic nature of the script is brought into full flower. Drama in life, as in the theater, is based on “switches,” and these switches have been neatly summarized by Stephen Karpman in a simple diagram her calls “The Drama Triangle.” Each hero in a drama or in life (the protagonists) starts off in one of the three main roles: Rescuer, Persecutor, or Victim, with the other principal player (the antagonist) in one of the other roles. When the crisis occurs, the two players move around the triangle, thus switching roles. One of the commonest switches occurs in divorce. During the marriage, for example, the husband is the persecutor and the wife plays the part of the victim. Once the divorce complaint is filed, these roles are reversed: the wife becomes the persecutor, and the husband the victim, while his lawyer and her lawyer play the part of competing rescuers. In fact, all struggles in life are struggles to move around the triangle in accordance with the demands of the script. Thus, the criminal persecutes his victims; the victim then files a complaint, and becomes the plaintiff or persecutor with the criminal now the victim. If he is caught, the police also become his persecutors. He then hires a professional rescuer, a lawyer, who persecutes the policeman. In an interrupted rape, there is a race around the triangle. The criminal who is persecuting the girl or boy victim becomes the victim of the rescuing police man. The criminal’s lawyer tries to rescue him by persecuting the girl or boy victim and the policeman as well. #RandolphHarris 13 of 26
Fairy tales, treated as dramas, show the exact feature of the drama triangle. Little Red Riding Hood, for example, is a victim of the persecuting wolf until the hunter rescues her, when she suddenly becomes the persecutor, putting stones in the belly of the now victimized wolf. Minor roles in script drama are the Connection and the Patsy, who are available to all three of the main characters. The Connection is the person who supplies what is needed for the switch, usually for a price, and is fully aware of his role: the man who sells liquor, drugs, influence, or guns. A gun, for example, often called an “equalizer,” turns a coward (victim) into a braggart (persecutor), or switches the defensive into the offensive. The Patsy is there to be conned into preventing the switch, or speeding it up. The classical Patsies are juries, and the most poignant are mothers who pay to keep their sons out of jail. Sometimes the Patsy is passive and merely acts as bait for the switch, like Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother. Mr. Karpman has many interesting variables in his fully developed theory, besides role switches. These include space switches (private-public, open-closed, near-far) which preceded, cause, or follow role switches, and script velocity (number of roles switches in a given unit of time). Thus, his thinking reaches far beyond the original roles as described for the game of “Alcoholic,” and brings fascinating insight into numerous aspects of life, psychotherapy, and the theater. Marriages can sometimes also seem like a drama triangle, as mentioned above. What a great many men and women must learn is that they cannot achieve the pleasures they both want until they realize that the most effective relationship is one where a couple views each other as equals. #RandolphHarris 14 of 26
This deceptively simple truth points to one of the most valuable contributions a woman can make to a man’s ability to function effectively, from which she, of course, benefits. The liberated woman learns, among other things, the importance of being free, as men have always been free, to express openly the full range of her intimate excitement and involvement—the delight of wanting and being wanted, being intimate, seeing and being seen, hearing words and uttering them of fragrances and textures, silences and sounds. Her spontaneous feelings, spontaneously communicated, stimulate her partner and heighten his tension, impelling him to act on his own impulses. Whatever she gives him returns to her and whatever he gives her comes back to him. More than half the pleasures of the experience of intimate passions depends on a partner’s response. If there is virtually no reaction at all, or at best passive acceptance, the emotional current steadily weakens and eventually flickers and goes dead. In too many marriages the wife may never say no but never really says yes—and then is puzzled later in life that when she does to bed, her husband stays up to watch television. However, even when saying yes—and meaning it—is not the answer. Active participation does not consist of merely initiating matters which the man is then expected to complete. The woman who wholeheartedly commits herself as an equal in a union of pleasures of the flesh is involved in continuous response to her husband’s changing needs and desires, as he is involved in hers. #RandolphHarris 15 of 26
Like him, she values freshness and variety and from time to time willingly experiments with the many modes of arousal as an expression of her personality and mood of the moment, not as an artificial contrivance to resuscitate flagging desire. The responsiveness of both partners is based on their mutual acceptance as vulnerable human beings with unique needs, expectations and capabilities. The wife does not assume that her husband wants what all men are supposed to want. Sensitive to what he says or reveals without words, she responds to his actual feelings at a specific moment—and she counts on him to do the same for her. Emotional needs, which vary with the mood, time and place, are not labeled “masculine” and “feminine.” If he enjoys it when she manifests a strong urge for pleasures of the flesh, that is fine; and if—as inevitably happens at times—their needs are not complementary, they will gently make their way to the best solution they can negotiate, not as representatives of two different genders but as two separate partners united by a mutual concern. Together they succeed or together they fail in the encounter of pleasures of the flesh, sharing the responsibility for failure, whether it is reflected in his performance or hers. While conclusive proof is still lacking, there are firm grounds for believing that the female who esteems herself as something more than a collector’s item, who has a beneficial appreciation of her biological nature and enters into pleasures of the flesh as a free and equal partner—and who is as responsive to her partner’s needs as she wants him to be to hers—will do more to eliminate male fears of functional failure than all the therapy in the World. #RandolphHarris 16 of 26
One way for persons to rid themselves of the body is to pretend to be somebody else. In so doing, they are “in” neither their actions nor their bodies. If they can obliterate the experience of the body, this pretense is abetted. Such obliteration is carried out through repression of unwelcome somatic experience. Persons will repress any dimensions of their experience that terrify them, or that have led to unbearable pain. Thus, when parents observe children masturbating, they may punish them severely. To avoid future pain, the children may repress all pleasurably body experience. It is as if they have divested themselves of their genitalia to avoid rejections by parents who cannot love a child with urges for pleasures of the flesh. Chronic repression of body experience must manifest itself in some way. Subjectively, repression of bodily experience is experienced as no experience, as a “hole” or an absence in the person’s experience of being. Thus, one person complained, “I feel numb, like a robot.” Objectively, somatic repression manifests itself as character structure, or muscular armour—a peculiar configuration of muscular tonus and flaccidity, which results in a person’s characteristic bodily posture, style of movement, and tone of voice. Somatic repression has profound effects upon autonomic functions of the body, such as breathing, elimination, circulation, and rest. #RandolphHarris 17 of 26
Wilhelm Reich was adept at looking at a naked body and “reading” from it what impulses a person was repressing, and what kinds of conflicts the person likely had with parents. There is no magic in this. If persons have been obliged to live dutiful, unpleasurable lives, and dare not experience, much less express, their rage and resentment, then they must hold the rage in. If you will clench your teeth, tighten your neck, pinch your buttocks tightly together, and then look in the mirror, you will improve your ability to empathize with others who are repressed. A person who has repressed his or her sense of vitality may inhibit the vitality of another person who, before the encounter, felt “full of beans and juices,” very much alive. On making contact with the unembodied one, the individual begins to feel diminished in vitality and zest for life. T is the faculty of reason which differentiates human beings from all Nature’s other creatures. It is this which sets man beyond the animals. However, reason untouched by the finer promptings of the heart, and unillumined by the sublimer intuitions of the mind, degenerates easily into selfish, cunning, and degrades instead of dignifying man. It may be they find it too hard to make the crossing from the older way of thinking to what is demanded of them by the new knowledge: a willingness to accept paradox. For otherwise, they get only a half-truth. Reason gradually becomes paramount as man develops through life after life. #RandolphHarris #RandolphHarris 18 of 26
Unit readiness in the Sacramento Fire Department begins with physically fit firefighters and EMT’s because emergencies drain people physically, mentally, and emotionally. Physical fitness, while crucial for success in the fire department, is important for all members of the team. Physically git people feel more competent and confident, handle stress better, work longer and harder, and recover faster. These attributes provide valuable payoffs in any environment. The physical demand of the job, prolonged hours, and continuous operations can erode more than your body. Physical fitness and adequate rests support mental functioning and emotional stability, both essential for sound leadership. You must be prepared for deprivation. It is difficult to maintain a high level of fitness during fast-paced, demanding operations. If you are not physically fit, your mental and emotional fitness will suffer as well. Sacramento firefighters and EMT’s operate in difficult terrain, extreme climates, and at high altitudes, and this requires extensive physical preconditioning. Once you are in the area of operations, you must make every effort to sustain physical readiness. Preparedness for operational missions is the primary focus of the Sacramento Fire Department’s physical fitness program. Fitness programs that merely emphasize top scores on the Fire Department Fitness Test do not prepare firefighters for the strenuous demands of firefighting and rescue. As forward-looking leaders, the Sacramento Fire Department has developed a balanced physical fitness program that enables fire fighters and EMT’s to execute the department’s mission-essential task last. #RandolphHarris 19 of 26
Ultimately, the Sacramento Fire Department’s physical fitness requirements have a significant impact on the team’s personal performance and health. Since their decisions affect their organization’s response times and performance, health and safety, it is an ethical as well as a practical imperative to remain health and fit. “I got married after I got into the fire department. I met my wide when we were both in college. We have one child, a baby girl, two months old. My wife doesn’t like me being in the fire department, and since I got hurt, she is really kind of scared. But she knows that it’s what I want to do. I’m sure she wouldn’t want our girl to be a firefighter when she grows up. I’d just like her, the baby, to do what she wants to do. When my wife had our first child at the hospital, I went in there and helped deliver it. It was a lot of fun, and I assisted. I was trained in Lamaze classes. I was there with our second child also. It’s a tremendous feeling to be there, bringing a new individual into the World. They teach in Lamaze class that it creates a bonding effect between you and the mother, and you and the child. I believe that 100 percent. My kids are real special. And as you grow up as an individual yourself, you see mistakes that you made, and you want to make sure that your child doesn’t make those same mistakes. You want to the best for your children. They are too young to have an interest in the fire service. My little boy’s only seven. They like going to the station. I just want them to grow up happy, to live a good life and live long, and be happy in what they do. Material things aren’t important. It would be nice if Nicholas became a firefighter. #RandolphHarris 20 of 26
The Sacramento Fire Department is older than the City of Sacramento. Today, 5 February 2025, the Sacramento Fire Department is celebrating their 175th birthday. This is a very important milestone. Understanding the expectations and applying the attributes and competencies prepares the Sacramento Fire Department for situations they are likely to encounter. Fire fighters who gain expertise through operational assignments, institutional learning, and self-development will be versatile enough to adapt to most situations and grow into greater responsibilities. All members of the Sacramento Fire Department are loyal, dedicated to duty, respectful, selfless, honourable, possess a great deal of integrity and display personal courage in the face of danger and adversity. You can save lives by making a donation to the Sacramento Fire Department. The proud members of the Sacramento Fire Department are committed to providing the highest quality and highest level of courteous and responsive services to the residents, businesses, and visitors of Sacramento. This is accomplished by implementing comprehensive strategies and training in fire prevention, fire suppression, emergency medical services, and all risk mitigation, including human-caused and natural disasters, emergency preparedness, emergency services and community-based fire services. The Sacramento Fire Department physical requirements for the firefighters and EMTs state that you must be medically and physically fit, and able to pass the Occupational Physical Assessment Test. Therefore, physical and mental toughness are just the basic requirements. You achieve excellence when you habitually show discipline and commitment to the department’s values. Individuals and organizations pursue excellence to improve. #RandolphHarris 21 of 26
Citizens, remember to give the right-of-way to any law enforcement vehicle, fire engine, ambulance, or other emergency vehicle using a siren and red lights. Failure to pull over may result in a ticket. Drive to the right edge of the road and stop until the emergency vehicles(s) have passed. When approaching a stationary emergency vehicle with flashing emergency signal lights (hazard lights), move over and slow down. If you are in an intersection when you see an emergency vehicle, continue through the intersection. Drive to the right as soon as it is safe and stop. Obey any direction, order, or signal given by a law enforcement officer, or a firefighter. Even if they conflict with existing signs, signals, or laws, follow their orders. When their siren or flashing lights are on, it is against the law to follow within 300 feet of any fire engine, law enforcement vehicle, ambulance, or other emergency vehicle. If you drive to the scene of a fire, collision, or other disaster, you can be arrested. When you do this, you are getting in the way of firefighters, ambulance crews, or other rescue and emergency personnel. Moral courage is the willingness to stand firm on values, principles, and convictions. It enables you to stand up for what you believe is right, regardless of the consequences. The concept of professional courage does not always mean being as tough as nails, either. It also suggests a willingness to listen to other peoples’ problems, to go to bat for them in a tough situation and it means knowing just how far they can go. It also means being willing to tell the boss when he or she is wrong. #RandolphHarris 22 of 26
As a reminder, parents, pleasure teach your children love America and be patriotic citizens and to buy goods and services made in America. It is also important to respect law and order and treat your elders with respect. Having the Southern American boarder open and not having American farmland protected, not producing beef, poultry, fish, fruit, produce and dairy in America, and without American goods and services being our number one manufactured and selling items, America has created a dangerous and significantly elevated risks to national security, national economic security, and national public health. Some people may believe that these claims are overstated, but by not routinely monitoring Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CEVs) or other security relevant alerts, such as end-of-life of machinery is how the Oroville Dam Crisis occurred in 2017. Other crises that have occurred due to neglect of critical infrastructure is the 2025 Palisades fires because Southern California ran out of water, when they are located next to an ocean and they could have simply created desalinating plants to help with the water shortage. The water is so plentiful that it is currently eroding land and causing homes to fall into the sea. American government should know all exploitable vulnerabilities and fix them prior to the situation becoming a crisis. Failure to take such mitigating actions is dangerous and significantly elevates risk to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. The American government must understand that significant time and resources must be invested in America. They must also encourage corporations to plan for both mitigating safety vulnerabilities in the short term and eliminating them in the long term. For instance, a company might begin by reaching out to the federal, state or local government and requesting tax incentives to provide security to dangerous communities, to help the government repair bridges and potholes. #RandolphHarris 23 of 26
America needs an approach to eliminate safety vulnerabilities in American cities. There needs to be a road map by the end of 2025, outlining a prioritized approach to eliminate crisis situations in America. There is enough money to send aid to foreign nations, but the American government does not have enough money to care their infrastructure, provide adequate resources, nor end the affordable housing crisis. Nor is there enough money to fund other national critical functions (NCFs). These bad practices of putting America and Americans last is considered exceptionally risky, particularly to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. In 2024, Americans spent $100 billion on Japanese cars. In an effort to help America pull through the massive national deficit, please buy American made cars. American made cars used to be the envy of the World and because American car brands are offering a wide range of options, from family SUVs to electric vehicles and luxury sedans, we are now seeing a resurging interest. American made cars are equal or superior to those made overseas. The Chevrolet Trax, for instance, is a well-designed, fuel efficient, and safe SUV. And as you know, there is no better car on Earth than 1950-1970s American Muscle Car. Americans make sure superior product, but we are buying things from other nations. American food imports have risen by 300 percent since 1999. American farmland declined by nearly 20 million acres between 2017 and 2022. As of 2022, there were 880.1 million acres of land dedicated to farming, compared to 900.1 million in 2017. The data shows there are now little more than 1.9 million farms in the country. Americans and American corporations spent $136 billion on food and beverages from other countries. It is a national security risk to lose American Farms and farmers. If there is a war, and most of our meat, produce, poultry, dairy, and fruit is coming from foreign counties, we stand the risk of starving. #RandolphHarris 24 of 26
With war breaking out all over the World, in these uncertain times, it is very important to bring American farms back. Las Vegas is running out of buildable land and is expected to reach its maximum number of homes in 2032. So, home prices are expected to rise dramatically. Much like the land crisis in Las Vegas, we could also run out of land to farm and will not be able to grow or cultivate our own food. We can protect American farmland and support American farmers by buying American made beef, poultry, dairy, and produce. Also, country of origin labeling is very important so Americans can know where their food is coming from and have the ability to support American farmers and ranchers. As money flows, it influences further investment. Save the land that sustains us by protecting American farmland. Once the land is built on, we lose it forever. And in the future, there may be food wars. Also, to ensure that we have farmland and buildable land for future use, we need to start limiting the number of people allowed to immigrant to America. Perhaps with the immigrants we do allow into America, there needs to be a diversity program to make sure we have a population that equally represents all races of people. If Americans continue to spend money on American products, then more need to be made to keep up the inventory. When investors notice these goods are selling, it gives them the confidence to pour more money into that local business. It shows that people want these goods made in America and pressures investors to keep these goods and services in America. The jobs stay here, the business stays in American, wages naturally increase, and more money is invested to keep up with demand. This reduces the burden on the taxpayer. When you support American businesses, that money stays in our economy and can help to reduce the national debt. The government creates debt by borrowing from businesses in the private sector or from foreign countries. It also increases the national debt by spending more than it gains in tax revenue in a fiscal year. When people shop locally, more tax money stays in the economy and goes to the government. This way, it keeps more money in our national economy and keeps more jobs located in American which also sends more taxes to the government, which can again help to reduce the national debt. #RandolphHarris 25 of 26
When you buy foreign goods, these companies usually have lighter tax loads or exemptions, meaning less money for the nation debt, plus you are helping to strengthen these foreign nations by send more money overseas. Buying American made products is also better for the environment and helps to reduce the carbon footprint because these products do not have to travel nearly as far. Furthermore, American companies and manufacturers are held to much higher standards in regard to pollution. American companies have to be more careful about air, land, and water pollution and have proper ways to dispose of waste. Moreover, please remember to respect law and order and treat your elders with the utmost dignity and kindness possible. And take your education seriously so that you will be successful in life and make your family proud. It is inborn in the human minds to wish to know. If this begins with the endless surface questions of a child’s curiosity, if it continues into deeper questions of a scientist’s probing investigation, it cannot and does not stop there. For the higher part of the mind will eventually come into unfoldment, that union of abstract reflective thought with mystical intuition, which is true intelligence, which needs and sees a view of the whole of things. And so, the knowing faculty enters the realm of philosophy. As a reminder, parents, pleasure teach your children love America and be patriotic citizens and to buy goods and services made in America. It is also important to respect law and order and treat your elders with respect. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. #RandolphHarris 26 of 26
The Winchester Mystery House
The Winchester Mystery House is full of surprises. What was your favorite, “Oooh!” moment during your visit at the mansion? (And for those of you who still have to check it off your bucket list… we will hopefully see you soon.)
Experience an unforgettable journey back to the time of kings and queens with this entry ticket for The Winchester Mansion in Santa Clara, California which was the residence of Sarah L. Winchester. Take advantage of this fascinating experience. After tour, there will be time enjoy the mansion’s splendor at your own pace. You might even discover secret passages.
Please come and enjoy a delicious meal in Sarah’s Café, stroll along the paths of the beautiful Victorian gardens, and wonder through the miles of hallways in the World’s most mysterious mansion.
For further information about tours, including group tours, weddings, school events, birthday party packages, facility rentals, and special events please visit the website: https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/
Please visit the online giftshop, and purchase a gift for friends and relatives as well as a special memento of The Winchester Mystery House. A variety of souvenirs and gifts are available to purchase. https://shopwinchestermysteryhouse.com/
The Search for Glory
The ego is not the master in its own house. The energies driving toward self-realization are shifted to the aim of actualizing the idealized self. There are manifold ways in which this shift in direction exerts a molding influence upon the whole personality. Its more immediate effect is to prevent self-idealization from remaining a purely inward process, and to force it into the total circuit of the individual’s life. The individual wants to—or, rather, is driven to—express himself. And this now means that he wants to express his idealized self, to prove it in action. It infiltrates his aspirations, his goals, his conduct of life, and his relations to others. For this reason, self-idealization inevitably grows into a more comprehensive drive which we suggest calling by a name appropriate to its nature and its dimensions: the search for glory. Self-idealization remains its nuclear part. The other elements in it, all of them always present, though in varying degree of strength and awareness in each individual case, are the need for perfection, neurotic ambition, and the need for a vindictive triumph. Among the drives toward actualizing the idealized self the need for perfection is the most radical one. It aims at nothing less than molding the whole personality into the idealized self. Like Pygmalion in Bernad Shaw’s version, the neurotic aims not only at retouching but at remodeling himself into his special kind of perfection prescribed by the specific features of his idealized image. He tries to achieve this goal by a complicated system of should and taboos. This process is both crucial and complex. #RandolphHarris 1 of 29
The most obvious and the most extrovert among the elements of the search for glory is neurotic ambition, the drive toward external success. While this drive toward excelling in actuality is pervasive and tends toward excelling in everything, it is usually most strongly applied to those matters in which excelling is most feasible for the given individual at a given time. Hence the content of ambition may well change several times during a lifetime. At school a person may feel it an intolerable disgrace not to have the very best marks in class. Later on, he may be just as compulsively driven to have the most dates with the most desirable girls. And again, still later, he may be obsessed with making the most money, or being the most prominent in politics. Such changes easily give rise to certain self-deceptions. A person who has at one period been fanatically determined to be the greatest athletic hero, or war hero, may at another period become equally bent on being the greatest saint. He may believe, then, that he has “lost” his ambition. Or he may decide that excelling in athletics or in war was not what he “really” wanted. Thus, he may fail to realize that he still sails on the boat of ambition but has merely changed the course. #RandolphHarris 2 of 29
Of course, one must also analyze in detail what made him change his course at that particular time. I emphasize these changes because they point to the fact that people in the clutches of ambition are but little related to the content of what they are doing. What counts is the excelling itself. If one did not recognize this unrelatedness, many changes would be incomprehensible. The characteristics remain the same whether it is a question of being a leader in the community, of being the most brilliant conversationalist, of having the greatest reputation as a musician or as an explorer, of playing a role in “society,” of writing the best book, or of being the best-dressed person. The picture varies, however, in many ways, according to the nature of the desired success. Roughly, it may belong more in the category of power (direct power, power behind the throne, influence, manipulating), or more in the category of prestige (reputation, acclaim, popularity, admiration, special attention). These ambitious drives are, comparatively speaking, the most realistic of the expansive drives. At least, this is true in the sense that the people involved put in actual efforts to the end of excelling. These drives also seem more realistic because, with sufficient luck, their possessors may actually acquire the coveted glamour, honours, influence. However, on the other hand, when they do attain more money, more distinction, more power, they also come to feel the whole impact of the futility of their chase. They do not secure any more peace of mind, inner security, or joy of living. #RandolphHarris 3 of 29
The inner distress, to remedy which they started out on the chase for the phantom of glory, is still as great as ever. Since these are not accidental results, happening to this or that individual, but are inexorably bound to occur, one may rightly say that the whole pursuit of success is intrinsically unrealistic. Since we live in a competitive culture, these remarks may sound strange or unworldly. It is so deeply ingrained in all of us that everybody wants to get ahead of the next fellow, and be better than he is, that we feel these tendencies to be “natural.” However, the fact that compulsive drives for success will arise only in a competitive culture does not make them any less neurotic. Even in a competitive culture, there are many people for whom other values—such as, in particular, that of growth as a human being—are more important than competitive excelling over others. The last element in the search for glory, more destructive than the others, is the drive toward a vindictive triumph. It may be closely linked up with the drive for actual achievement and success but, if so, its chief aim is to put others to shame or defeat them through one’s very success; or to attain the power, by rising to prominence, to inflict suffering upon them—mostly of a humiliating kind. #RandolphHarris 3 of 29
On the other hand, the drive for excelling may be relegated to fantasy, and the need for vindictive triumph then manifests itself mainly in often irresistible, mostly unconscious impulses to frustrate, outwit, or defeat others in personal relations. I call this drive “vindictive” because the motivating force stems from impulses to take revenge for humiliations suffered in childhood—impulses which a reinforced during the later neurotic development. These later accretions probably are responsible for the way in which the need for a vindictive triumph eventually becomes a regular ingredient in the search for glory. Both the degree of its strength and the person’s awareness of it vary to a remarkable extent. Most of the people are either entirely unaware of such a need or cognizant of it only in fleeting moments. Yet it is sometimes out in the open, and then it becomes the barely disguised mainspring of life. Among the recent historical figures as Mr. Hitler is a good illustration of a person who went through humiliating experiences and gave his whole life to a fanatic desire to triumph over an ever-increasing mass of people. In this case vicious circles, constantly increasing the need, are clearly discernible. One of these develops from the fact that he could think only in categories of triumph and defeat. Hence, the fear of defeat made further triumphs always necessary. Moreover, the feeling of grandeur, increasing with every triumph, rendered it increasingly intolerable that anybody, or even any nation, should not recognize his grandeur. #RandolphHarris 4 of 29
Life has a rule, which for example, our case study Nick was trying to get around. It is called the Rule of the Normal Curve. Simply stated, this rule is: In any given group of people, a few are going to react strongly at one end of the spectrum, a few at the other end, most will react somewhere in the middle. Graphically, it looks like walking up a hill, reacting a peak, and then gradually declining toward a flat surface. As I mentioned to Nick during the last session, in any sampling, such as an election or poll, there is a natural distribution which follows the mentioned curve. If we were to ask one thousand people, for example, how they felt about chicken soup, a few would say “I love chicken soup,” a few would say, “I hate chicken soup,” and the bulk would give us variations of “I don’t mind it,” and “I don’t really care for it.” A large part of the group would be right smack in the middle: at the “I” or “indifferent” point on the above spectrum. Their response would be, “I don’t have any feelings about chicken soup one way or the other.” When I asked Nick to produce a statue which would please everyone, I knew he was in for a futile effort. It is, of course, impossible to please everyone with anything! Nick didn’t recognize this impossibility at the time, so he had to go through the frustrating process of getting everyone to like something, despite the wide variety of their tastes. #RandolphHarris 5 of 29
There is a universal law behind the Normal Curve. That law is: You win some and you lose some. Stated in terms of Nick’s problem, it is: You cannot please all of the people all the time. In the normal, natural course of living, no matter what a person does, some people will be pleased by the activity, some will be displeased and most will not care too much one way or the other. This is a very difficult proposition for a lot of people to swallow. Face it, each of us considers ourselves and our lives to be important. After all, you care, you really care what happens to you, do you not? Of course. What Nick needed to learn—and eventually did learn—is that he himself is not lessened by the fact that most people are indifferent to who is he and what he does. Because others do not consider him important, it does not mean that he actually is unimportant. Actually, he is very important—to himself. Thus, his own opinion of himself is critical to his emotional health. It is far more critical for Nick to have a high regard for Nick than it is for anyone else to have a high regard for him. How many times have we read about famous people who were loved, admired and respected the World over, yet took their own lives? Why? Because their own opinions of themselves were lower than others’ opinions of them. The manipulator is a person who puts other people’s opinions of him ahead of his own. Having done this, he then tries to manipulate people to express only those opinions he wants to hear. #RandolphHarris 6 of 29
The master, on the other hand, recognizes that his own opinion of himself is most important. Even if their expression amounts to a condemnation of him, he is free to express himself fully and also allow others to express themselves fully. When the manipulator hears, “I think you are a jerk,” he may react with, “Now, what right have you to say that?” or “How can you say that about a sweet guy like me?” or “if you say that again, I will bust your head in.” When the master hears, “I think you are a jerk,” his reaction is, “Thanks for telling me how you feel. I know I am not a jerk, but thanks for your opinion anyway.” Notice that in the first set of reactions, the manipulator put a great deal of significance on the remark—to the point of using judgment, guilt and anger in an effort to overcome or negate it. In the master’s reaction, the remark is given the significance it deserves: second place, behind the master’s own opinion of himself. Nick’s transformational experience took place when he smashed the statue which was being designed “by committee” and put his own desires first. “…I am going to do it the way I want to do it.” Any artist must put his own opinions and feelings first, or be constantly the puppet of whoever gave the last evaluation, or whoever pays the bills, or whoever gives out the grades. It is important to not let other people judge us. Man has an innate tendency to judge. However, if I can say, “I am not judgeable,” then I will not let others judge my existence or my essence. #RanolphHarris 7 of 29
Our worth comes from our intrinsic value as human beings, not from the extrinsic value placed on our worth by others. Those others cannot give us intrinsic value. Only God can judge us intrinsically, yet I believe God loves us unjudgingly. I believe in grace, in the concept of unmerited love. I believe that we are loved for our being, because of who we are; not because of what we do or do not do. This does not mean we all must reject other people’s opinions, or heap scorn on them. It simply means we need to put those opinions in their proper place; respect them, be thankful for them, and accept or reject them based on their validity, not their source. In other words, in weighing what you say, I first look at what you are saying, not at who you are. If what you are saying make sense, or meshes with what I feel, then I will give it validity. If it does not, I will not give it validity—and I do not care who is saying so. This is a useful attitude to take, because, you see, people’s opinions also follow the Normal Curve: that is, a few are valid, a few are invalid, and most are not much good one way or the other. Mind and its expression in language are thoroughly interwoven and to improve one is to improve the other. We must begin by looking into our thoughts and examining what sort of ideas we form when dealing with such words and especially when dealing with abstract words. We must attend carefully to what passes in our own mental comprehension the moment an abstract term is used. It will not harm our spiritual affords to bring more clarity into them. It will not help them to keep our thinking about them muddled. When a law is universal, it applies to everything. I mean everything. #RandolphHarris 8 of 29
Already a man of many careers, Nick started a new one after having been in therapy for a while. Asserting himself, perhaps for the first time in his life, he quit his architectural job and became a free-lance sculptor. Despite the continuing lack of want ads offering jobs to sculptors, Nick has been able to make a nice living from his statues. Some of them have been incorporated into the designs of office buildings erected by the company he used to work for. A few of the statues are becoming quite famous. However, the career change is just one facet of Nick’s growth. He is no longer Mr. Nice Guy—and his real friends are delighted. He no longer does favours for anyone whenever they ask. If he does not want to do a favour, he says, “I am sorry, but that is just something I really do not want to do.” Nick knows that when he responds this way, some people will accept it, some will reject it, and most will just shrug and ask somebody else. The important thing is, Nick’s happiness and well-being no longer hinge on what those people’s reactions are. The way he sees it: What the heck, you cannot please all the people all of the time. Many woman are like Nick used to be, they are always trying to please everyone. However, attitude began changing in this century in response to complex social and cultural influences. Men—and, to a lesser degree, women—began hoping to achieve gratification with pleasures of the flesh in the marriage. #RandolphHarris 9 of 29
Since they still adhered to the old active-male/passive-female philosophy, however, a woman could not cooperate with pleasures of the flesh without compromising her standing as a respectable woman, in her husband’s eyes as well as her own. And because she could not contribute her own feelings for pleasures of the flesh, success depended entirely upon the man. Over the years, pressures on him increased. At first, he was expected only to be gentle and considerate; then, to make his wife feel loved and desire; next, to assure her of a climax, possibly simultaneous with his own; and finally, to trigger a whole series of climaxes. It is only fair to point out that these were not female ultimatums. Most of them, in fact, were articulated by male writers—novelists, psychotherapists, sexologists and the like—whose recommendations often depend more on imagination than on research and were influenced more by prevailing cultural beliefs than by secure, scientific knowledge. They envisioned the function of pleasures of the flesh less as an authentic expression of a total relationship than as a personal achievement test with specific performance goals. Their unrealistic pleasures of the flesh-performance standards, which filtered into the expectations of many men and women confused by shifting ethical and moral codes, were still based on the insidious notion that pleasures of the flesh are the mark of the man. This lopsided approach to the relationship of pleasures of the flesh which persisted through the 1940s, fifties and even the sixties, and even today, despite the fact that more and more young women were rejecting the double standard, accepting—and even initiating—premarital pleasures of the flesh. #RandolphHarris 10 of 29
Pleasures of the flesh with affection was their byword, and they saw it as part of an exchange. If they could learn to be more open, more flexible, and more encouraging, they would then be rewarded with male performances guaranteed to deliver ecstasy. They did not realize that this attitude was simply a new variation on the old theme of active-male/passive-female; they did not understand what it meant to be a full and equal partner. In that sense they are no more liberated than their mothers, and today’s young men are under greater pressure than ever before. In the past, men at least had escape hatches. Inexperienced females had a limited ability to respond, were further inhibited by fear of pregnancy and settled, not ungratefully, for warmth and tenderness in place of passion. However, once morality and birth-control methods evolve to a point where the woman feels free to grant herself permission to enjoy relations of pleasures of the flesh, she turns to a particular man to make good on the promise made in his name by the male gender in general—to deliver pleasure on demand. If he cannot produce the promised delight, what acceptable excuse can he offer? Whom can he blame but himself? Thus, pleasures of the flesh often looms like Mount Everest before many a man—he is expected to reach the peak, pulling his partner up with him, and if he is married, to do so with regularity. If intercourse does not proceed according to plan most of the time—if it does not reach the five-minute mark, for example, or does not include the programmed “excitement”—a man may come to believe that he is incompetent with pleasures of the flesh. No wonder some husbands, unwilling to make the effort or to risk being considered inadequate with intimate passions or perhaps impotent, retreat behind the defense of indifference. #RandolphHarris 11 of 29
When examined phenomenologically, it is not difficult to undermine the primacy of this independent agent called ego, self, personal identity, or whatever. In the ordinary World of events, it is not surprising that words can issue forth endlessly as evidence of an agency self that makes itself known in this way. Yet, in the inward scene, the use of thought is not a simple matter. I hear these words coming one by one, and hear less certainly the next words and have the barest presentiment of words even a dozen or so further advanced than what is in consciousness now. From the phrase in consciousness one can go to the fairly well intimated next few words to the barely implied. I am lost in a sea of further presentiments of thoughts, feelings, images further beyond. If I take as my identity this floating in midstream of consciousness at this point, I can call unknow and even awesome the above stream of the past and even more so the below stream of not yet. However, why stream at all? How do I make these thoughts? In the hypnogogic state it is apparent that thought can arise spontaneously of itself. The round of thought becomes even more mysterious when one tries to stop thinking. Then it become apparent that the thoughts we credit to our fashioning can ride roughshod over us and go about their business. Attempting to stop thought awakens a sea of images and potentialities with the person. At best one can stop this consensually validated, directed social intercourse and thereby lay bare the underpinnings of thought. One can look under the mask of socially-sanctioned communication at the source of thought and see its more primal and autonomous nature. #RandolphHarris 12 of 29
There are individual differences even at this level. For some, feeling becomes image, for others it becomes words, for others the inner is like an imageless, wordless drama known before word or image. It is a delicate process, the mind watching itself at work. If the whole of the inner process differentiates into thought and this thought into ego, then ego would be the fixed conception of a changing process. Ego would be a result of l’autre moi. Add to this the accumulation of memory and the tie to a slowly changing body, and one has ego. The more one becomes acquainted with this primal underpinning of thought, the less it appears really different from agent self—except that it is more gifted and richer in conception. Ego is like its poorer brother, stayed from home. The real difference is that the inner is preeminently self-representational whole normal thought is much more estranged into relating to, describing, dealing with everything but itself. If the inner process always knows itself to be self-representation, I do not know, nor do we often recognize that we criticize in neighbours what are our own faults. They hurt us in neighbours because they are close to home in ourselves. So again, the difference between these areas is little. Rather than reduce the inner workings of the little ego, I would prefer to relate little ego to the wealthier, freer, more creative, deadly-accurate inner workings. #RandolphHarris 13 of 29
Pacifism and conscientious objection to war are unworthy of a student of philosophy. They are ideals which are correct only for a small number of people who have renounced the Worldly life, but quite incorrect for those who remain in the World to serve mankind. During the last way, we were fighting devils and gangsters, who would destroy all spirituality, all truth, and all religion, pacifism was sheer idiocy. Selfless action is much higher than self-centered renunciation. So philosophy supported the war as a sacred duty but it was done without hatred and simply to teach others that crime does not pay. If they have learned this lesson, we have helped them spiritually. We take from those we associate with some of their characteristics. Even if the association is only one of hate and war, we may take only a little, and that unconsciously, but the result is unavoidable. This truth would provide the advocates of nonresistance and nonviolence with a good argument for their cause but other factors need to be taken into consideration. What is the benefit of slightly uplifting the character of some men at the terrible price of degrading the character of an entire culture for generations? For when a nation is handed over to an invader, its culture is handed over at the same time. All expressions of the arts, the intellect, religion, mysticism, and philosophy are then at the mercy of, and will be reshaped by, inferior minds and brutal characters. #RandolphHarris 14 of 29
However, society is not only composed of individuals. It is also an institution. Too well-mannered to kill everybody, the surrealists, by the very logic of their attitude, came to consider that, in order to liberate desire, society must first be overthrown. They chose to serve the revolutionary movement of their times. From Walpole and Sade—with an inevitability that comprises the subject of this essay—surrealists passed on to Helvetius and Marx. However, it is obvious that it is not the study of Marxism that led them to revolution. Quite the contrary: surrealism is involved in an incessant effort to reconcile, with Marxism, the inevitable conclusion that led it to revolution. We can say, without being paradoxical, that the surrealists arrived at Marxism on account of what, today, they most detest in Marx. Knowing the basis and the nobility of the motives that compelled him, particularly when one has shared the same lacerating experiences, one hesitates to remind Andre Breton that his movement implied the establishment of “ruthless authority” and of dictatorship, of political fanaticism, the refusal of free discussion, and the necessity of the death penalty. The peculiar vocabulary of that period is also astonishing (“sabotage,” “informer,” et cetera) in that it is the vocabular of a police-dominated revolution. However, these frenetics wanted “any sort of revolution,” no matter what as long as it rescued them from the World of shopkeepers and compromise in which they were forced to live. #RandolphHarris 15 of 29
In that they could not have the best, they still preferred the worst. In that respect, they were nihilists. They were not aware of the fact that those among them who were, in the future, to remain faithful to Marxism were faithful at the same time to their initial nihilism. The real destruction of language, which the surrealists so obstinately wanted, does not lit in incoherence or automatism. It lies in the word order. Even if that liberation coincided with another form of servitude, it was pointless for Aragon to begin with a denunciation of the “shameful pragmatic attitude,” for in that attitude he finally found total liberation from morality. The surrealist who mediated most profoundly about this problem, Pierre Naville, in trying to find the denominator common to revolutionary action and surrealist action, localized it, with considerable penetration, in pessimism, meaning in “the intention of accompanying man to his downfall and of overlooking nothing that could ensure that his perdition might be useful.” This mixture of Machiavellianism and Augustinism in fact explains twentieth-century rebellion; no more audacious expression can be given to the nihilism of the times. The renegades of surrealism were faithful to most of the principles of nihilism. In a certain way, they wanted to die. If Andre Breton and a few others finally broke with Marxism, it was because there was something in them beyond nihilism, a second loyalty to what is purest in the origins of rebellion: they did not want to die. #RandolphHarris 16 of 29
Science fiction is always more important than science because the former anticipates, guides and directs the latter. Indeed, it is safe to say that all scientific progress is initiated by science fictionists who turn their blueprints over to the science engineers. The Scientist Fiction Caste is the future probe of the species—always pre-dom by many stages. The Hive Engineer Caste is much more numerous. Seek evolutionary agents from other gene pools to stimulate you to get smarter. For every post-hive science fictionist there are more than a thousand hive science engineers who work on the present and past. Post-hive scientists are rarely called by that name. For example, Jules Verne was called a novelist; Giordano Bruno a dissenting philosopher; Aruthur C. Clarke—who designed the Com-Sat system decades before its manufacture—is consider a sci-fi author. In real life, the simplest and most direct way to become a real loser is through crime, gambling, or drug addiction. Criminals are divided into two types: winners, who are professionals, and if ever, seldom go to prison, and losers, who are following the injunction: “Do not have any fun!” The losers have what fun they can while they are at larges, but then follow their scripts by spending drab years in prison. If they are released by discharge, parole, or legal technicality, they soon manage to get back in again. #RandolphHarris 17 of 29
Gamblers can also be winners or losers. The winners play carefully and save or invest their money. They like to quit when they are ahead. The losers play luck and if they win by chance, get rid of their winnings as soon as they can, perhaps by following the famous slogan: “It may be crooked, but it is the only game in town.” If they have permission to be winners, they win; otherwise, they are compelled to lose. What a gambling addict needs is not an analysis, which is seldom successful, of why he gambles, but permission to stop being a loser. If he gets it, he will either stop gambling, or continue and win. The mother’s influence is most clearly shown in certain types of drug addicts. As previously noted, these are encouraged with the slogan: “Heroin, shmeroin, what is the difference as long as he loves his mother?” What such people need is permission to stop taking drugs, which means permission to leave their mothers and strike out for themselves, and that is exactly what the highly successful Synanon movement provides. Where mother’s script injunct says, “Do not leave me!” Synanon says, “Stay here instead.” This also applies to alcoholics and Alcoholics Anonymous. Claude M. Steiner discovered that almost all alcoholics had been analyzed, cajoled, or threatened concerning their drinking, but that none of his cases had ever been told simply: “Stop drinking!” Their previous jousts with therapists were based on such slogans as: “Let us analyze why you drink,” “Why do you not stop drinking?,” or “if you keep on drinking, you will injure yourself.” #RandolphHarris 18 of 29
“Each of these is quite different in effect from the simple imperative “Stop drinking!” The “Alcoholic” player is quite willing to spend years analyzing why he drinks or explaining regretfully how he backslid, providing that in the meantime he can keep on drinking. The threat that he will injure himself is the most naïve and ineffectual of all, because that is exactly what he is trying to do, following his script injunction “Kill yourself!” The threats merely add to his satisfaction by providing the gruesome details of exactly how he is brining about his death, and by assuring him that he will be successful in fulfilling the destiny demanded by his mother. If he can take it, what the alcoholic needs is first permission to stop drinking, and then a clear and unqualified Adult contract to deists, if he can give it. People of the Western World have thought of the human being in dualistic terms, as a nonmaterial mind dwelling within a fleshly body subject to mechanical and biological laws. This tendency to split one’s thinking about humans has led to thinking about them as actually split. Moreover, there has been a tendency in the West to depreciate the experience of body as a distraction from salvation and from compulsive work. Many devout people believe the body is a beast to be subdued and that a person should eliminate feelings, appetites, and emotions from life through assorted disciplines. This peculiar perspective upon our actual embodiment has led to a state of being that R.D. Laing calls unemodiment. In its extreme form, as in schizophrenic sufferers, unemodiment is experienced as being not “in” one’s body. Many people appear insensitive to the way their bodies feel and function. Such somatic repression is a factor in physical as well as psychological illnesses. #RandolphHarris 19 of 29
The physical well-being and ultimate success of the Sacramento Fire Department depends far more on the character of its leaders. Quality leadership grows out of sound values and attributes. Such leadership instills trust, confidence, and loyalty in your team members and produces results. The essential values and attributes of character are the moral compass of the Sacramento Fire Department. The values of the Sacramento Fire Department are never tested more strenuously than during times of crisis. Those who can keep a level head and act with character, particularly in the face of grave danger, testify to the importance of the Sacramento Fire Department’s Values and leader attributes. The impression the Sacramento Fire Department makes on others contributes to their success in leading them. How others perceive you depends on your outward appearance, demeanor, actions, and words. Others need a way to size up their leaders. This means they need to see you where they are. Good leaders are willing to go everywhere, including where the conditions are the most severe. They illustrate through their presence that they car. There is not greater inspiration than leaders who routinely share in team hardships and dangers. Firefighters and EMTs who see or hear from the boss appreciate knowing that their unit has an important part to play. #RandolphHarris 20 of 29
Presence is not just a matter of showing up. It requires projecting an image. You convey presence through actions, words, and the manner in which you carry yourself. You convey your reputation by the respect that others show you, how they refer to you, and how they respond to your guidance. Presence is a critical attribute that you need to understand. Th effectiveness of the Sacramento Fire Department is dramatically enhanced because they project a commanding presence, a professional image of authority. They have sound health, strength, and endurance, which sustains emotional health and conceptual abilities under prolonged stress. The Sacramento Fire Department also projects self-confidence and certainty in the unit’s ability to succeed in whatever it does; they are able to demonstrate composure and outward clam through steady control over emotion. The Sacramento Fire Department is resilient. They show a tendency to recover quickly from setbacks, shocks, injuries, adversity, and stress while maintaining a mission and organizational focus. The Sacramento Fire Department looks and acts like professionals. They wear the appropriate uniform or civilian attire and do so with pride. When in public, their jackets are buttoned and ties and done, which sends a message of pride and professionalism. They are the eyes of the American people. The Sacramento Fire Department also meets prescribed height and weight standards and carry themselves by displaying courtesy. This sends a clear signal: I am proud of my uniform, my unit, my city, state, and country. #RandolphHarris 21 of 29
Skillful use of professional bearing—fitness, courtesy, and proper fire department appearance—also helps in overcoming difficult situations. The professional presentation of the Sacramento Fire Department presents a decent appearance because it commands respect. These professionals are also competent as well. They look good because they are good. “I still hang out with firemen. In fact, we’re going out bowling tonight. Sometimes my wife takes offense, because she’s left at home with the kids. She loves men, she knows that’s what I want to do, so she supports me. I appreciate that. I’ve been in the hospital a number of times, so when she got the call that I was in the hospital this time, she wasn’t upset. She just came right down, and she was as calm as could be. In fact, one deputy chief said, ‘Your wife is great. I couldn’t believe how well she took this.’ I said, ‘Well, she’s been through a lot with me already.’ One of the times was when I put my wrist through the window while battling a fire and trying to save a life. I punched the window twice, and then I used my left palm, and it went right through. It severed both arteries and eight out of ten tendons, and I was thirty seconds from bleeding to death. When I got to the hospital, they were going to amputate it and give me a hook. This happened four years ago, and my fingertips are still numb. It takes so long for all those things to grow back together. #RandolphHarris 22 of 29
“The chief says, ‘You can make a thousand mistakes a thousand different ways and we will guide you through them, but if you keep making the same mistakes, people will think there is something wrong with you.’ On the job, I have always been aggressive. Now I’m a little more cautious. Being aggressive is fine, but you also have to be careful. When there is no life at stake, I think it would be foolish to lose my life over material property. I’m not going to dictates to my children how they should live their lives. I want them to be happy, and I want them to respect their mother and me. We’re behind them all the way on education, homework, and cracking the books. Not just me, their mother is always on their case about education and doing the best they can in everything. Sometimes I think we’re on their case too much, but it’s only for their own good. We’re strict with them, which is the way it should be. I respect discipline. I was in the Marine Corps, and I think that’s the way things run easier. You see some kids on the street, and you can tell just by looking at them that their parents don’t care. It reflects on the parents. My own father was the strong, silent type. He didn’t have to say anything. He could give you one look, and it would cut right through you. My mother was more of the disciplinary. She was always lecturing and giving us time outs. I was always a brat. I must have been a pain in the neck. I was always questioning their authority. I was always more of a handful than the other children.” #RandolphHarris 23 of 29
The Sacramento Fire Department is older than the City of Sacramento. On 5 February 2025, the Sacramento Fire Department will be celebrating their 175th birthday. This is a very important milestone. Understanding the expectations and applying the attributes and competencies prepares the Sacramento Fire Department for situations they are likely to encounter. Fire fighters who gain expertise through operational assignments, institutional learning, and self-development will be versatile enough to adapt to most situations and grow into greater responsibilities. All members of the Sacramento Fire Department are loyal, dedicated to duty, respectful, selfless, honourable, possess a great deal of integrity and display personal courage in the face of danger and adversity. You can save lives by making a donation to the Sacramento Fire Department. The proud members of the Sacramento Fire Department are committed to providing the highest quality and highest level of courteous and responsive services to the residents, businesses, and visitors of Sacramento. This is accomplished by implementing comprehensive strategies and training in fire prevention, fire suppression, emergency medical services, and all risk mitigation, including human-caused and natural disasters, emergency preparedness, emergency services and community-based fire services. The Sacramento Fire Department physical requirements for the firefighters and EMTs state that you must be medically and physically fit, and able to pass the Occupational Physical Assessment Test. Therefore, physical and mental toughness are just the basic requirements. You achieve excellence when you habitually show discipline and commitment to the department’s values. Individuals and organizations pursue excellence to improve. #RandolphHarris 24 of 29
Citizens, remember to give the right-of-way to any law enforcement vehicle, fire engine, ambulance, or other emergency vehicle using a siren and red lights. Failure to pull over may result in a ticket. Drive to the right edge of the road and stop until the emergency vehicles(s) have passed. When approaching a stationary emergency vehicle with flashing emergency signal lights (hazard lights), move over and slow down. If you are in an intersection when you see an emergency vehicle, continue through the intersection. Drive to the right as soon as it is safe and stop. Obey any direction, order, or signal given by a law enforcement officer, or a firefighter. Even if they conflict with existing signs, signals, or laws, follow their orders. When their siren or flashing lights are on, it is against the law to follow within 300 feet of any fire engine, law enforcement vehicle, ambulance, or other emergency vehicle. If you drive to the scene of a fire, collision, or other disaster, you can be arrested. When you do this, you are getting in the way of firefighters, ambulance crews, or other rescue and emergency personnel. Moral courage is the willingness to stand firm on values, principles, and convictions. It enables you to stand up for what you believe is right, regardless of the consequences. The concept of professional courage does not always mean being as tough as nails, either. It also suggests a willingness to listen to other peoples’ problems, to go to bat for them in a tough situation and it means knowing just how far they can go. It also means being willing to tell the boss when he or she is wrong. #RandolphHarris 25 of 29
As a reminder, parents, pleasure teach your children love America and be patriotic citizens and to buy goods and services made in America. It is also important to respect law and order and treat your elders with respect. Having the Southern American boarder open and not having American farmland protected, not producing beef, poultry, fish, fruit, produce and dairy in America, and without American goods and services being our number one manufactured and selling items, America has created a dangerous and significantly elevated risks to national security, national economic security, and national public health. Some people may believe that these claims are overstated, but by not routinely monitoring Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CEVs) or other security relevant alerts, such as end-of-life of machinery is how the Oroville Dam Crisis occurred in 2017. Other crises that have occurred due to neglect of critical infrastructure is the 2025 Palisades fires because Southern California ran out of water, when they are located next to an ocean and they could have simply created desalinating plants to help with the water shortage. The water is so plentiful that it is currently eroding land and causing homes to fall into the sea. American government should know all exploitable vulnerabilities and fix them prior to the situation becoming a crisis. Failure to take such mitigating actions is dangerous and significantly elevates risk to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. The American government must understand that significant time and resources must be invested in America. They must also encourage corporations to plan for both mitigating safety vulnerabilities in the short term and eliminating them in the long term. For instance, a company might begin by reaching out to the federal, state or local government and requesting tax incentives to provide security to dangerous communities, to help the government repair bridges and potholes. #RandolphHarris 26 of 29
America needs an approach to eliminate safety vulnerabilities in American cities. There needs to be a road map by the end of 2025, outlining a prioritized approach to eliminate crisis situations in America. There is enough money to send aid to foreign nations, but the American government does not have enough money to care their infrastructure, provide adequate resources, nor end the affordable housing crisis. Nor is there enough money to fund other national critical functions (NCFs). These bad practices of putting America and Americans last is considered exceptionally risky, particularly to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. In 2024, Americans spent $100 billion on Japanese cars. In an effort to help America pull through the massive national deficit, please buy American made cars. American made cars used to be the envy of the World and because American car brands are offering a wide range of options, from family SUVs to electric vehicles and luxury sedans, we are now seeing a resurging interest. American made cars are equal or superior to those made overseas. The Chevrolet Trax, for instance, is a well-designed, fuel efficient, and safe SUV. And as you know, there is no better car on Earth than 1950-1970s American Muscle Car. Americans make sure superior product, but we are buying things from other nations. American food imports have risen by 300 percent since 1999. American farmland declined by nearly 20 million acres between 2017 and 2022. As of 2022, there were 880.1 million acres of land dedicated to farming, compared to 900.1 million in 2017. The data shows there are now little more than 1.9 million farms in the country. Americans and American corporations spent $136 billion on food and beverages from other countries. It is a national security risk to lose American Farms and farmers. If there is a war, and most of our meat, produce, poultry, dairy, and fruit is coming from foreign counties, we stand the risk of starving. #RandolphHarris 27 of 29
With war breaking out all over the World, in these uncertain times, it is very important to bring American farms back. Las Vegas is running out of buildable land and is expected to reach its maximum number of homes in 2032. So, home prices are expected to rise dramatically. Much like the land crisis in Las Vegas, we could also run out of land to farm and will not be able to grow or cultivate our own food. We can protect American farmland and support American farmers by buying American made beef, poultry, dairy, and produce. Also, country of origin labeling is very important so Americans can know where their food is coming from and have the ability to support American farmers and ranchers. As money flows, it influences further investment. Save the land that sustains us by protecting American farmland. Once the land is built on, we lose it forever. And in the future, there may be food wars. Also, to ensure that we have farmland and buildable land for future use, we need to start limiting the number of people allowed to immigrant to America. Perhaps with the immigrants we do allow into America, there needs to be a diversity program to make sure we have a population that equally represents all races of people. If Americans continue to spend money on American products, then more need to be made to keep up the inventory. When investors notice these goods are selling, it gives them the confidence to pour more money into that local business. It shows that people want these goods made in America and pressures investors to keep these goods and services in America. The jobs stay here, the business stays in American, wages naturally increase, and more money is invested to keep up with demand. This reduces the burden on the taxpayer. When you support American businesses, that money stays in our economy and can help to reduce the national debt. The government creates debt by borrowing from businesses in the private sector or from foreign countries. It also increases the national debt by spending more than it gains in tax revenue in a fiscal year. When people shop locally, more tax money stays in the economy and goes to the government. This way, it keeps more money in our national economy and keeps more jobs located in American which also sends more taxes to the government, which can again help to reduce the national debt. #RandolphHarris 28 of 29
When you buy foreign goods, these companies usually have lighter tax loads or exemptions, meaning less money for the nation debt, plus you are helping to strengthen these foreign nations by send more money overseas. Buying American made products is also better for the environment and helps to reduce the carbon footprint because these products do not have to travel nearly as far. Furthermore, American companies and manufacturers are held to much higher standards in regard to pollution. American companies have to be more careful about air, land, and water pollution and have proper ways to dispose of waste. Moreover, please remember to respect law and order and treat your elders with the utmost dignity and kindness possible. And take your education seriously so that you will be successful in life and make your family proud. It is inborn in the human minds to wish to know. If this begins with the endless surface questions of a child’s curiosity, if it continues into deeper questions of a scientist’s probing investigation, it cannot and does not stop there. For the higher part of the mind will eventually come into unfoldment, that union of abstract reflective thought with mystical intuition, which is true intelligence, which needs and sees a view of the whole of things. And so, the knowing faculty enters the realm of philosophy. As a reminder, parents, pleasure teach your children love America and be patriotic citizens and to buy goods and services made in America. It is also important to respect law and order and treat your elders with respect. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. #RandolphHarris 29 of 29
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Public Attitudes Influence Private Relationships
A relationship takes time to develop. When we have meaningful relations with them, our ability to care for others is increased. Look for opportunities to maintain contact. Studies show that letting people know you care is essential to healthy relationships. Visit often with those you care about. In healthy human relationships, the moves toward, against, or away from others are not mutually exclusive. The ability to want and to give affection, or to give in; the ability to fight, and the ability to keep to oneself—these are complementary capacities necessary for good human relations. However, in the child who feels himself on precarious ground because of his basic anxiety, these moves become extreme and rigid. Affection, for instance, becomes clinging; compliance becomes appeasement. Similarly, he is driven to rebel or to keep aloof, without reference to his real feelings and regardless of the inappropriateness of his attitude in a particular situation. The degree of blindness and rigidity in his attitudes is in proportion to the intensity of the basic anxiety lurking within him. Since under these conditions the child is driven not only in one of these directions, but in all of them, he develops fundamentally contradictory attitudes toward others. The three moves toward, against, and away from others therefore constitute a conflict, his basic conflict with others. In time, he tries to solve it by making one of these moves consistently predominant—tries to make his prevailing attitude one of compliance, or aggressive, or aloofness. #RandolphHarris 1 of 24
This first attempt at solving neurotic conflicts is by no means superficial. On the contrary, it has a determining influence upon the further course his neurotic development takes. Not does it exclusively concern attitudes toward others; inevitably, it entails certain changes in the whole personality. According to his main direction, the child also develops certain appropriate needs, sensitivities, inhibitions, and the beginnings of moral values. The predominately complying child, for instance, tends not only to subordinate himself to others and to lean on them, but also tries to be unselfish and good. Similarly, the aggressive child starts to place value on strength and on the capacity to endure and to fight. However, the integrating effect of this first solution is not as firm or comprehensive as in the neurotic solutions. In one girl, for instance, complaint trends had become predominant. They showed in a blind adoration of certain authoritative figures, in tendencies to please and appease, in a timidity about expressing her own wishes, and in sporadic attempts to sacrifice. At the age of eight, she placed some of her toys in the street for some less affluent child to find, without telling anybody about it. At the age of eleven, she tried in her childish way for a kind of mystic surrender in prayer. There were fantasies of being punished by teachers on whom she had a crush. However, up to the age of nineteen, she also could easily fall in with plans evolved by others to take revenge on some teacher; while mostly being like a little lamb, she did occasionally take the lead in rebellious activities at school. And, when disappointed in the minister of her church, she switched from a seeming religious devotion to a temporary cynicism. #RandolphHarris 2 of 24
The reasons for the looseness of integration achieved—of which this illustration is typical—lie partly in the immaturity of the growing individual and partly in the fact that the early solutions aims chiefly at a unification of relations with others. There is therefore room, and indeed a need, for firmer integration. The particulars of the unfavourable environmental conditions are different in each case, as are those of the course the development takes, and its outcome. However, it always impairs the inner strength and coherence of the individual, and thereby always generates certain vital needs for remedying the resulting deficiencies. Although these are closely interwoven, we can distinguish the following aspects: Despite his early attempts at solving his conflicts with others, the individual is still divided and needs a firmer and more comprehensive integration. For many reasons, he has not had the chance to develop real self-confidence: his inner strength has been sapped by his having to be on the defensive, by his being divided, by the way in which his early “solution” initiated a one-side development, thereby making large areas of his personality unavailable for constructive uses. Hence, he desperately needs self-confidence, or a substitute for it. He does not feel weakened in a vacuum, but feels specifically less substantial, less well equipped for life than others. If he had a sense of belonging, his feeling inferior to others would not be so serious a limitation. However, living in a competitive society, and feeling at bottom—as he does—isolated and hostile, he can only develop an urgent need to life himself above others. #RandolphHarris 3 of 24
In our case studying involving Nick, one of his problems was that he wanted all his relationships to consist of core-to-core contact. He expected people, in the normal course of dealing with him, to express their deepest feelings of love—often in situations which where such expression was inappropriate. When people did not contact him core-to-core, he took it as evidence that they did not love him. Based on his early training, Nick believed that not being loved was tantamount to being killed. At the same time, he was constantly exaggerating his own feelings of love when dealing with others. Often, he could not refuse to do favours for casual acquaintances. Deep down, he welcomed the opportunity to do the favours—no matter how inconvenient—because in doing them, he would build up a “love debt.” To Nick’s type of manipulator, a “love dept” works like this: “Just to show you what a nice guy I am and how much I love you, I will do you this favour. However, when I ask you for a favour, I expect you to pay me back—whether you want to or not.” When I asked Nick to do the bust, I suspected that he would interpret everyone’s reaction as a core-to-core contact. He did this, and everything was fine as long as people were saying, “The statue is good.” Nick was translating that as, “You did a good job. You are a good boy, Nick. I love you.” However, when people started saying things like, “The brow is too heavy,” Nick translated it as, “You did a bad job. You are a bad boy. I do not love you.” Naturally, the people in the group were making only peripheral contact. They were not talking about him; they were talking about his work. #RandolphHarris 4 of 24
Nick’s problem with criticism is a common one. Most people take criticism personally—that is, they assume that what other people say about their work is a criticism of them as human beings. They mistake peripheral contact for core-to-core contact. In real life, a comment about someone’s work is usually peripheral. Work is something a person does; it is not who he is. A comment about someone’s work can be core-to-core contact, however. Example: “Nick, I see you really express yourself in your work. It is great that you are able to do that.” A comment can also be critical and be core-to-core. Example: “I see a lot of ugliness in your work. This ugliness is an outgrowth of how ugly you are as a person.” Both of these examples are meant to be evaluations of the person as well as the work. Viewed as such, both are considerably “heavier” than a peripheral remark about some aspect of the work. There is another kind of problem with the rhythm of people relating that is the opposite of Nick’s. It occurs with people who never permit-core-to-core contact. In the extreme, someone who does this would be a schizophrenic—more or less permanently withdraw. For most people, the rhythm of relating naturally flows from withdrawal to peripheral contact to core-to-core, back to peripheral and withdrawal, over and over in random patterns. This is the rhythm of life. Disruptions in relationships occur when the rhythm is disrupted. Divorce, for example, often results when one spouse refuses either core contact or withdrawal by the other spouse. #RandolphHarris 5 of 24
A wife who refuses to allow her husband’s withdrawal might make a comment like, “If you loved me, you would not want to go out with the boys.” A husband who refuses core-to-core contact might say, “Quit asking me to tell you, ‘I love you,’ all the time. It is not manly.” As a result, many woman have a double-standard residual—a reflection of the traditional view of the woman’s role, with the culture assigning her the responsibility of meeting the man’s needs…Today we are in transition, and we will have to assume that a young couple does not want to live in accord with that traditional standard. However, can they really make progress towards gender equality without undermining the relationship of pleasures of the flesh itself? The increasing acceptance of American women as independent persons is an irreversible process. And the final outcome seems clear: women will join men as full partners. This prospect evokes uneasiness and even anxiety in many people, women as well as men. Change is never more unsettling than when it raises questions about fundamental matters that have always been taken for granted. And few matters seem less open to question than the nature of sexual identity and the importance of differences between the genders. Both women and men are thus understandably disturbed to find themselves confronted with the possibility of much of what they believe about the female gender may be inaccurate or untrue. The new outlook introduced a disconcerting and troubling element into their World. #RandolphHarris 6 of 24
Such alarm is groundless, based for the most part on confusion and misconceptions that need clarification. Not all aspects of the problem can be dealt with in this limited space, but several important considerations can be raised as a contribution to the dialogue now going on between women and men all over the World. A primary and rather obvious distinction must first be made. The common basis on which men and women cooperate in society at large is not the same as the unique basis on which a specific couple coexist in private. The two Worlds are separate realms of experience with radically different requirements for success—performance at work, fulfillment at home—and they involve different risks and rewards. For any woman determined to develop her independence beyond traditional lines, there is no possibility of weighing the consequences without taking into account whether the steps she takes will influence the life she leads in public or in private. The Liberation Movement possesses a different significance in each of these Worlds. To overlook this distinction is to blur the meaning of the movement and to transform any discussion of the matter into a futile debate. Both Worlds, of course, do interact. If she were in the usual subordinate position at work, dominated by males, a self-assured woman who works on a basis of equality with male colleagues, for example, is likely to find it easier to establish a personal relationship with a man based on mutual needs. This highly complex crossover effect—from public to private life—deserves further careful study. All that can be noted now is that public attitudes influence private relationships. #RandolphHarris 7 of 24
There are relatively consistent difference between what can be identified as ego consciousness and l’autre moi. Ego anticipates its acts and appears to choose them. They have an immediate meaning to ego. In contrast l’autre moi seems unanticipated, surprising, and the choosing is not apparent. To ego it is more or less alien. What ego does has immediate meaning to itself. The acts of l’autre moi appear meaningless or difficult to translate into usable meaning. The majority of people in the World discard messages of l’ature moi as useless, unimportant (how many study their dreams?), or even non-existent. Meaning to l’ature moi exists in itself. Ego acts in a temporal landscape with past and future. Within the view of l’autre moi there is timelessness. Everything is now. Now is the whole scope of things. Ego has a single identity. I am Lestat De Lioncourt. L’autre moi can be said to either have no identity or all identities. The two seem to be the same. Though invisible in itself, it can represent itself in all things. Ego sees itself as an agent in an independent real World. L’autre moi is itself its own agent-World. From the viewpoint of l’autre moi all Worlds are representations of itself. Ego must search for what is true and carefully check on it. L’autre moi represents truth instantly and without effort. After years of work with people’s dreams I have far more respect for the unfailing accuracy of dreams than I have for what people say of themselves. All considered, it seems l’autre moi is wiser than ego. There are two aspects of the other me that are difficult to see from ego’s limited view. L’autre moi sees the World as representative of itself. #RandolphHarris 8 of 24
In dreams, friend may be used as examples of one’s own traits. The same is true of houses, cats, et cetera. From the side view, all things are examples of aspects of this large self. I have received many humorous comments from l’ature moi when awakening, where the World was taken as its representation. For instance, I once heard someone say, “here is a mondo (problem in the Zen sense) for you.” In the next instant I was awake looking at the problem, the Word itself. The real World is the unsolved problem presented to me. L’autre moi also uses time itself as its representation. It is as though it uses time as one might use the sequence of a drama to illustrate the character of a person. Its aim seems to be to portray its nature with a time sequence as a device to do this. Its time-transcending quality seems to permit the occasional appearance of precognition. It is as though the past, present, and future were all one to it. An urgent appeal to the absent life is reinforced by a total rejection of the present World, as Breton’s arrogant statement indicates: “Incapable of accepting the fate assigned to me, my highest perceptions outraged by this denial of justice, I refrain from adapting my existence to the ridiculous conditions of existence here below.” The mind, according to Breton, can find no point of rest either in this life or beyond it. Surrealism wants to find a solution to this endless anxiety. It is “a cry of the mind which turns against itself and finally takes the desperate decision to throw off its bonds.” It protests against death and “the laughable duration” or a precarious condition. #RandolphHarris 9 of 24
This, surrealism places itself at the mercy of impatience. It exists in a condition of wounded frenzy: at once inflexible and self-righteous, with the consequent implication of a moral philosophy. Surrealism, the gospel of chaos, found itself compelled, from its very inception, to create an order. However, at first it only dreamed of destruction—by poetry, to begin with—on the plane of imprecation, and later by the use of actual weapons. The trial of the real World has become, by logical development, the trial of creation. Surrealist irreligion is methodical and rational. At first it established itself on the idea of the absolute non-culpability of man, to whom one should render “all the power that he has been capable of putting into the word God.” As in every history of rebellion, this idea of absolute non-culpability, springing from despair, was little by little transformed into a mania for punishment. The surrealist, while simultaneously exalting human innocence, believed that they could exalt murder and suicide. They spoke of suicide as a solution and Crevel, who considered this solution “the most probable, just, and definitive,” killed himself, as did Rigaut and Vache. Later Aragon was to condemn the “babblers about suicide.” Nevertheless, the fact remains that to extol annihilation, without personal involvement, is not a very honourable course. On this point surrealism has retained, from the “litterature” it despised, the most facile excuses and has justified Rigaud’s staggering remark: “You are all poets, and I myself am on the side of death.” #RandolphHarris 10 of 24
The materialists resists evil from a selfish standpoint and with angry or hateful feeling, the mystic practises nonresistance to the point of martyrdom the philosopher resists evil but from the standpoint of common welfare and in a spirit of calm, impersonal duty. Sir Arthur Bryant: “Christ’s injunction to the angry and revengeful to turn the other cheek was addressed to the individual, seeking by forbearance to render unto God, for his soul’s sake, the things that are God’s, and not to the rulers of society. Christ never….bade his followers to turn someone else’s cheek to the lawless and aggressor.” He who would trust to the goodness of human nature at its present stage of evolution may meet with justification in some instances but with disappointment in many more. The primary and justifiable use of destructive weapons should be for self-defense. When however, through greed or fondness for fighting, they are turned to offensive and aggressive uses, he who thus violates ethical laws, will, sooner or later, have to pay the wages of sin. This is equally true of individual gangsters as of imperialistic militarists. When the bloodshed and horrors of fighting have to be experienced by the one of the Quest, let him steel his nerves and toughen his feelings by sheer effort of willpower. Let him console himself in the knowledge that it is only a temporary affair and will have to come to an end, at which time he can then live the kind of life he wants to live. #RandolphHarris 11 of 24
Such a state of affairs, although a terrible business, underlines Jesus Christ’s teachings about the ever presence of suffering and the consequent necessity of finding an inner refuge from it. Whatever happens, he must try to keep his moral outlook undegraded by outside pressures. Good character is the foundation of a worthwhile life, spiritually and materially. In the 16th century, the Old World faced the challenging opportunity of colonizing a vast and rich New World. Two psychosocial systems—the Anglo-Celtic and the Mediterranean-set up civilizations in North America and South America respectively. The Anglo-Celtic psychosocial model is based upon individualism. It emphasizes democratic rule, open communication, free mobility, plurality of lifestyle, personal growth, tolerance of difference, encouragement of invention, competition, experimentation, creativity, decentralization, private enterprise, free market exchange, and distrust of military authority. The Mediterranean psychosocial model is derived from Eastern and Middle-Eastern philosophies. It emphasizes subordination of the individual to authoritarian hive-rues; restriction of communication—censorship; restriction of movement, controlled uniformity of lifestyle; discouragement of personal growth; rigid maintenance of herd-tradition; state monopoly; distrust of the inventive experimental approach; glorification of military control; centralization; enterprise; obedience to bureaucracy; and suppression of differences. #RandolphHarris 12 of 24
The difference between the neuropolitics of the two experiments provide interesting perspectives for anticipating what will happen in the future as the limitless riches of post-terrestrial space attract Old World social competition. A brief examination of the evolution of these two social models in South and North America provides instructive suggestions for the future of space colonization. The technological and economic solutions necessary for permanent and highly profitable High Orbital Mini-Earths—H.O.M.E.S.—must be adequately worked out. The future of post-terrestrial Plan-It colonization depends on resolving software issues, including mobilization of public opinion supporting free migration, democratic access to available resources, political and cultural control, and psychosocial models and metaphours to guide life in the new custom-made Worlds. Plan-it colonies in high orbit provide a ecological vacuum in which human caste differences can blossom. The best way to avoid the emergence of civil-service bureaucracies, military dictatorships, class struggles, centralized monopolies, impositions of standardized life-styles—the South Americanization of space—is to reexamine the specific factors that led to the success of the North American model. Emphasis on individuality, the open invitation to migrants from every continent, and free communication made the emergence of a United States of America possible. It is equally important to review the mistakes made by the North American pioneers. #RandolphHarris 13 of 24
The prospect of space settlement gracefully harnesses the imagination of freedom loving people throughout the planet. Many hope to recall, renew, reinvigorate and repeat the successful aspects of the Jeffersonian-Edisonian model. Among these factors are the frontier expansive spirit, the independent, self-actualized western hero-heroine, the small gene pool group seeking to live out a new vision, adventure and calculated risk, the genetic imperative, and the melting-pot open-society mystique. The rugged individual has tremendous allure. Maturity can be defined in four different ways. Trial by law. A person is mature when he is mentally competent and has reached the age of twenty-one. According to Hebrew law, a boy becomes a man when he reaches the age of thirteen. Trial by Parental prejudice. A person is mature when he does things my way, and immature if he does them his way. Trial by initiation. A person is mature when he has passed certain tests. In primitive societies these tests are tough and traditional. In industrial countries, he gets his maturity certificate when he passes his driving test. In special cases, he may be given psychological tests and his maturity or immaturity is then certified by the psychologist. Trial by living. For the script analyst, maturity is tested by external events. The tests begin when the person is about to come out of a supervised and sheltered environment and the World moves in on him on its own terms. They start in the senior year of college, the final year of apprenticeship, at promotion or parole time, at the end of the honeymoon, or whenever the first opportunity offers itself in open competition or cooperation from script failure or success. #RandolphHarris 14 of 24
From this point of view, the common success and failures in life depend on parental permissions. Jeder does or does not have permission to graduate from college, complete his apprenticeship, stay married, stop drinking, get promoted or elected or paroled, stay out of the mental hospital, or get well if he goes to a psychiatrist. Through grade school and high school and the early years of college, it is possible to survive failures and even juvenile hall and reform school, especially in this country where minors are often given another chance. Nevertheless, there is a small number of suicides, homicides, and addictions among adolescents, and a larger number of optional car crashes and psychoses. In less lenient countries, a failure to matriculate into college, or a criminal record, are for real, and once such mark is enough to se the individual’s course for the rest of his life. For the most part, however, early failures are rehearsals rather than final performances, and playing for keeps does not begin until the twenties. Hardly anyone experience fullest range of emotions of which humans are capable. Not only does one’s culture impose limits upon the experience and expression of emotion; one’s own family will also influence which emotions are aroused and which will be expressed. Because the expression of emotion is so important to both the quality of life and to health, it is important to reflect upon your own emotional habits. What situations provoke you to anger, for example? And to fear or anxiety? Both fear and anger can enrich life and foster growth, but irrational fears and rage can destroy the quality of existence. #RandolphHarris 15 of 24
If you are chronically in a fury about everything—if everyone’s behaviour seems imperfect, if their appearance angers you, if the slightest deviation from your view of perfection puts you into an ill-concealed rage—then your life might ne enhanced if you could alter your expectations in reasonable ways. You would seek help to achieve better use of your emotional life. If you are “running scared,” it is possible that you view yourself as weaker and more helpless than is warranted; you might be able to challenge yourself to face those situations you dread and discover that you can cope. Can you express your emotions without guilt or anxiety, and without being destructive to self and others? One of the most wholesome guarantors of healthy and joie de vivre is the freedom to express your feelings. If you are chronically suppressed and emotionally inhibited, it may be worthwhile to “let go” a little, to test whether it is really so dangerous to laugh, cry, become angry, or tender and affectionate. If available and properly led, encounter groups can provide persons with the opportunity to explore their possibilities for experiencing and expressing their genuine feelings. Falsifying emotion can be a pernicious influence upon your life. Let the other people in your life know your authentic feelings toward them, especially those with whom you have a personal relationship (as opposed to a more formal role relationship.) To be emotionally dishonest is to set the stage for estrangement from others and for self-alienation. #RandolphHarris 16 of 24
Furthermore, your sensitivity to others’ emotions and your receptivity to their feelings, no matter how different from your own, can help your friends and those about you to grow and “become.” Can you show understanding and acceptance of emotions that are strong and even sudden in their expression, or do such expression frighten you and in turn discourage your friends from expressing themselves authentically? In dealing with temporary, short-term explosions of feeling, such as in temper tantrums, can you wait them out sympathetically, showing understanding of the person’s degree of upset—and yet not reward the child (or adult for that matter) by giving into what he or she wants just to gain quiet? One of the characteristics of good friendships and of good parenting is the freedom of the persons concerned to fully trust each other to express emotionality honestly and openly, especially when the emotional expression is not a particularly pretty one. At the same time, sharing another’s joys and delights also facilitates depth in friendships and in parent-child relationships. Nonviolence is, and always has been, desperately needed by the World. However, it must be applied sensibly and understood wisely. For, ill-placed or false, it will encourage crime, condoning it rather than deterring men from it. This is something we frequently see in Sacramento, California. Criminals in professional positions like to harass and target people and break the law and try to set the victim up to take their fall. Because so many of these professional criminals are connected, they often get others to back them up and send them their enforcers. Even when things go wrong, when you take full responsibility for your decisions and actions, you display moral courage. Moral courage also expresses itself as candor. Candor means being frank, honest, and sincere with others. It requires steering clear of bas, prejudice, or malice even when it is uncomfortable or may seem better to keep quiet. #RandolphHarris 17 of 24
Trust relationships between you and your teammates rely on candor. Without it, your team members will not know if they have met the standard and you will not know what is going on in their organization. When planning and deciding an operation, try to envision the impact on firefighters, EMTs, and the public. The ability to see something from another person’s point of view, to identify with and enter into another person’s feelings and emotions, enables you to better care for everyone you work with. As a competent and empathetic leader, you take care of others by giving them the training, equipment, and all the support they need to keep them alive during an emergency situation and accomplish the mission. During a fire and difficult operations, you share the hardships with your people to gauge if their plans and decisions are realistic. As a competent and empathic leader, you also recognize the need to provide your team members with reasonable comforts and rest periods to maintain good morale and mission effectiveness. When a unit or organization suffers injuries or death, you can help ease the trauma and suffering in the Sacramento Fire Department to restore full readiness as quickly as possible. Empathy also includes nourishing a close relationship between the fire department, EMTs, and the families of those who work with the Sacramento Fire Department. To build a strong and ready force, you must promote self-sufficient and healthy families. Empathy for families includes allowing your crew recovery time from difficult missions, protecting leave periods, permitting critical appointments, as well as supporting events that allow information exchange and family team-building. #RandolphHarris 18 of 24
The requirement for leader empathy in the Sacramento Fire Department extend beyond the firehouse. Within the larger operational environment, leader empathy may be helpful when dealing with local populations and victims. “I never pushed it with my two sons. They knew that I was involved, and it was always around them. I have one son who thought it was interesting, but never chose to get involved, which is perfectly okay. There is no reason why he should. I have another son who did choose to get involved. He became a volunteer and served on the rescue squad, became a firefighter and an EMT. He is now a professional ski patrolman. I think that it’s one of those things that people have to do for themselves, you can’t inflict it upon anybody else. There has to be a tremendous desire to want to do it.” The Sacramento Fire Department is older than the City of Sacramento. On 5 February 2025, the Sacramento Fire Department will be celebrating their 175th birthday. This is a very important milestone. Understanding the expectations and applying the attributes and competencies prepares the Sacramento Fire Department for situations they are likely to encounter. Fire fighters who gain expertise through operational assignments, institutional learning, and self-development will be versatile enough to adapt to most situations and grow into greater responsibilities. All members of the Sacramento Fire Department are loyal, dedicated to duty, respectful, selfless, honourable, possess a great deal of integrity and display personal courage in the face of danger and adversity. You can save lives by making a donation to the Sacramento Fire Department. The proud members of the Sacramento Fire Department are committed to providing the highest quality and highest level of courteous and responsive services to the residents, businesses, and visitors of Sacramento. This is accomplished by implementing comprehensive strategies and training in fire prevention, fire suppression, emergency medical services, and all risk mitigation, including human-caused and natural disasters, emergency preparedness, emergency services and community-based fire services. The Sacramento Fire Department physical requirements for the firefighters and EMTs state that you must be medically and physically fit, and able to pass the Occupational Physical Assessment Test. Therefore, physical and mental toughness are just the basic requirements. You achieve excellence when you habitually show discipline and commitment to the department’s values. Individuals and organizations pursue excellence to improve. #RandolphHarris 19 of 24
Citizens, remember to give the right-of-way to any law enforcement vehicle, fire engine, ambulance, or other emergency vehicle using a siren and red lights. Failure to pull over may result in a ticket. Drive to the right edge of the road and stop until the emergency vehicles(s) have passed. When approaching a stationary emergency vehicle with flashing emergency signal lights (hazard lights), move over and slow down. If you are in an intersection when you see an emergency vehicle, continue through the intersection. Drive to the right as soon as it is safe and stop. Obey any direction, order, or signal given by a law enforcement officer, or a firefighter. Even if they conflict with existing signs, signals, or laws, follow their orders. When their siren or flashing lights are on, it is against the law to follow within 300 feet of any fire engine, law enforcement vehicle, ambulance, or other emergency vehicle. If you drive to the scene of a fire, collision, or other disaster, you can be arrested. When you do this, you are getting in the way of firefighters, ambulance crews, or other rescue and emergency personnel. Moral courage is the willingness to stand firm on values, principles, and convictions. It enables you to stand up for what you believe is right, regardless of the consequences. The concept of professional courage does not always mean being as tough as nails, either. It also suggests a willingness to listen to other peoples’ problems, to go to bat for them in a tough situation and it means knowing just how far they can go. It also means being willing to tell the boss when he or she is wrong. #RandolphHarris 20 of 24
As a reminder, parents, pleasure teach your children love America and be patriotic citizens and to buy goods and services made in America. It is also important to respect law and order and treat your elders with respect. Having the Southern American boarder open and not having American farmland protected, not producing beef, poultry, fish, fruit, produce and dairy in America, and without American goods and services being our number one manufactured and selling items, America has created a dangerous and significantly elevated risks to national security, national economic security, and national public health. Some people may believe that these claims are overstated, but by not routinely monitoring Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CEVs) or other security relevant alerts, such as end-of-life of machinery is how the Oroville Dam Crisis occurred in 2017. Other crises that have occurred due to neglect of critical infrastructure is the 2025 Palisades fires because Southern California ran out of water, when they are located next to an ocean and they could have simply created desalinating plants to help with the water shortage. The water is so plentiful that it is currently eroding land and causing homes to fall into the sea. American government should know all exploitable vulnerabilities and fix them prior to the situation becoming a crisis. Failure to take such mitigating actions is dangerous and significantly elevates risk to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. The American government must understand that significant time and resources must be invested in America. They must also encourage corporations to plan for both mitigating safety vulnerabilities in the short term and eliminating them in the long term. For instance, a company might begin by reaching out to the federal, state or local government and requesting tax incentives to provide security to dangerous communities, to help the government repair bridges and potholes. #RandolphHarris 21 of 24
America needs an approach to eliminate safety vulnerabilities in American cities. There needs to be a road map by the end of 2025, outlining a prioritized approach to eliminate crisis situations in America. There is enough money to send aid to foreign nations, but the American government does not have enough money to care their infrastructure, provide adequate resources, nor end the affordable housing crisis. Nor is there enough money to fund other national critical functions (NCFs). These bad practices of putting America and Americans last is considered exceptionally risky, particularly to national security, national economic security, and national public healthy and safety. In 2024, Americans spent $100 billion on Japanese cars. In an effort to help America pull through the massive national deficit, please buy American made cars. American made cars used to be the envy of the World and because American car brands are offering a wide range of options, from family SUVs to electric vehicles and luxury sedans, we are now seeing a resurging interest. American made cars are equal or superior to those made overseas. The Chevrolet Trax, for instance, is a well-designed, fuel efficient, and safe SUV. And as you know, there is no better car on Earth than 1950-1970s American Muscle Car. Americans make sure superior product, but we are buying things from other nations. American food imports have risen by 300 percent since 1999. American farmland declined by nearly 20 million acres between 2017 and 2022. As of 2022, there were 880.1 million acres of land dedicated to farming, compared to 900.1 million in 2017. The data shows there are now little more than 1.9 million farms in the country. Americans and American corporations spent $136 billion on food and beverages from other countries. It is a national security risk to lose American Farms and farmers. If there is a war, and most of our meat, produce, poultry, dairy, and fruit is coming from foreign counties, we stand the risk of starving. #RandolphHarris 22 of 24
With war breaking out all over the World, in these uncertain times, it is very important to bring American farms back. Las Vegas is running out of buildable land and is expected to reach its maximum number of homes in 2032. So, home prices are expected to rise dramatically. Much like the land crisis in Las Vegas, we could also run out of land to farm and will not be able to grow or cultivate our own food. We can protect American farmland and support American farmers by buying American made beef, poultry, dairy, and produce. Also, country of origin labeling is very important so Americans can know where their food is coming from and have the ability to support American farmers and ranchers. As money flows, it influences further investment. Save the land that sustains us by protecting American farmland. Once the land is built on, we lose it forever. And in the future, there may be food wars. Also, to ensure that we have farmland and buildable land for future use, we need to start limiting the number of people allowed to immigrant to America. Perhaps with the immigrants we do allow into America, there needs to be a diversity program to make sure we have a population that equally represents all races of people. If Americans continue to spend money on American products, then more need to be made to keep up the inventory. When investors notice these goods are selling, it gives them the confidence to pour more money into that local business. It shows that people want these goods made in America and pressures investors to keep these goods and services in America. The jobs stay here, the business stays in American, wages naturally increase, and more money is invested to keep up with demand. This reduces the burden on the taxpayer. When you support American businesses, that money stays in our economy and can help to reduce the national debt. The government creates debt by borrowing from businesses in the private sector or from foreign countries. It also increases the national debt by spending more than it gains in tax revenue in a fiscal year. When people shop locally, more tax money stays in the economy and goes to the government. This way, it keeps more money in our national economy and keeps more jobs located in American which also sends more taxes to the government, which can again help to reduce the national debt. #RandolphHarris 23 of 24
When you buy foreign goods, these companies usually have lighter tax loads or exemptions, meaning less money for the nation debt, plus you are helping to strengthen these foreign nations by send more money overseas. Buying American made products is also better for the environment and helps to reduce the carbon footprint because these products do not have to travel nearly as far. Furthermore, American companies and manufacturers are held to much higher standards in regard to pollution. American companies have to be more careful about air, land, and water pollution and have proper ways to dispose of waste. Moreover, please remember to respect law and order and treat your elders with the utmost dignity and kindness possible. And take your education seriously so that you will be successful in life and make your family proud. It is inborn in the human minds to wish to know. If this begins with the endless surface questions of a child’s curiosity, if it continues into deeper questions of a scientist’s probing investigation, it cannot and does not stop there. For the higher part of the mind will eventually come into unfoldment, that union of abstract reflective thought with mystical intuition, which is true intelligence, which needs and sees a view of the whole of things. And so, the knowing faculty enters the realm of philosophy. As a reminder, parents, pleasure teach your children love America and be patriotic citizens and to buy goods and services made in America. It is also important to respect law and order and treat your elders with respect. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. #RandolphHarris 24 of 24
Laguna Park, CA | From the Mid 500’s
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Welcome to the New Fabulous Forties! This intimate enclave of 37 homesites with available one- and two-story floorplans is the place to be in Sacramento. Waking up to a home you love sets just the right tone for what is ahead. Ventris Place offers beautifully designed homes. Danville, Residence 4, has 3 to 4 bedrooms and a loft across 1,846 square feet of living space.
Danville gives two levels, each one with its own defining purpose to create exactly what you need and want in the moment. Your home will flex with you, whether you need to invite work or play right into your comfort zone. There are also nooks that conjure up a visionary escape, welcoming you to lounge or create for the perfect work love balance. A main level with sweeping, open spaces and down to earth textures and tones, is designed with all the luxury details and faraway feels, much like the extended Laguna Park neighbourhood it occupies.
Organically designed to pull the outdoors and the indoors out, you can dine alfresco right of your gourmet kitchen or make the night bright, sitting on your side yard, for an entirely fresh perspective. A setting that is as cool as it is calm, elegant, and ready for the way you want to live. You will enjoy this home for generations to come.
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Must We Abandon All Hope at that Particular Point?
Our choice to obey or disobey God’s standard of morality will largely determine our happiness in life. Some years ago, my father, an attorney, was trying a lawsuit. For his authority, he cited only one case issued many years before. His opponent cited a numbers of lower-court decisions of more recent vintage. The honorable judge said to my father, “Mr. Harris, do you not have a more recent case than this?” My father looked at the judge and replied, “Your Honor, may I remind you what when the supreme court speaks on a matter, it only needs to speak once.” The judge nodded with approval. He was reminded that the supreme court trumps all lower-court decisions, however numerous or recent they may be. So it is with God our Father—He needs to speak only once on the issue of morality, and that one declaration trumps all the opinions of the lower courts, whether uttered by psychologist, managers, counselors, politicians, friends, parents, or would-be moralists of the day. It is almost unbelievable to think that God has given to His children the power that is most prized and sacred to Him—the power to create life. Because God gave us this power, He, and He alone, has the right to prescribe how it should be used. Contrary to much public sentiment, there is nothing negative or restraining about God’s moral standards. Rather, they are all beneficial and optimistic, uplifting and liberating. They build relationships of trust, they enhance self-esteem, they foster a clear conscience, and they invite the Spirit of the Lord to bless individual lives. They are the proven standards for happy marriages and stable communities. #RandolphHarris 1 of 25
We arrive thus at a morality of evolution, in which the criterion for what we cultivate or reject in ourselves lies in the question: is a particular attitude or drive inducive or obstructive to my human growth? As the frequency of neuroses shows, all kinds of pressure can easily divert our constructive energies into unconstructive or destructive channels. However, with such a belief in an autonomous striving toward self-realization, we do not need an inner strait jacket with which to shackle our spontaneity, nor the whip of inner dictates to drive us to perfection. There is no doubt that such disciplinary methods can succeed in suppressing undesirable factors, but there is also no doubt that they are injurious to our growth. We do not need them because we see a better possibility of dealing with destructive forces in ourselves: that of actually outgrowing them. The way toward this goal is an ever-increasing awareness and understanding of ourselves. Self-knowledge, then, is not an aim in itself, but a means of liberating the forces of spontaneous growth. In this sense, to work at ourselves becomes not only the prime moral obligation, but at the same time, in a very real sense, the prime moral privilege. To the extent that we take our growth seriously, it will be because of our own desire do to so. And as we lose the neurotic obsession with self, as we become free to grow ourselves, we also free ourselves to love and to feel concern for other people. We will then want to give them the opportunity for unhampered growth when they are young, and to help them in whatever way possible to find and realize themselves when they are blocked in their development. At any rate, whether for ourselves or for others, the ideal is the liberation and cultivations of the forces which lead to self-realization. #RandolphHarris 2 of 25
If not mentally defective, whatever the conditions under which a child grows up, he will learn to cope with others in one way or another and he will probably acquire some skills. However, there are also forces in him which he cannot acquire or even develop by learning. You need not, and in fact cannot, teach an seed to grow into a Monterey Ever Green Cypress tree, but when given a chance, its intrinsic potentialities will develop. Similarly, the human individual, given a chance, tends to develop his particular human potentialities. He will develop then the unique alive forces of his real self: the clarity and depth of his own resources, the strength of his will power; the special capacities or gifts he may have; the faculty to express himself, and to relate himself to others with this spontaneous feelings. All this will in time enable him to find his set of values and his aims in life. He will grow, substantially undiverted, toward self-relation. Thus, this is why the real self is that central inner force, common to all human beings and yet unique in each, which is the deep source of growth. (When in the future a reference is made to growth, it is always meant in the sense presented here—that of free, healthy development in accordance with the potentials of one’s generic and individual nature.) Only the individual himself can develop his given potentialities. However, like any other living organism, the human individuum needs favourable conditions for his growth “from seed into Monterey cypress evergreen tree”; he needs an atmosphere of warmth to give him both a feeling of inner security and the inner freedom enabling him to have his own feelings and thoughts and to express himself. #RandolphHarris 3 of 25
A man needs the good will of others, not only to help him in his many needs but to guide and encourage him to becomes a mature and fulfilled individual. He also needs healthy friction with the wishes and wills of others. If he can thus grow with others, in love and in friction, he will also grow in accordance with his real self. However, through a variety of adverse influences, a child may not be permitted to grow according to his individual needs and possibilities. Such unfavourable conditions are too manifold to list here. However, some include the fact that people in the environment are too wrapped up in their own neuroses to be able to love the child, or even to conceive of him as the particular individual he is; their attitudes toward him are determined by their own neurotic needs and responses. Essentially, they may be dominating, overprotective, intimidating, irritable, overexacting, overindulgent, erratic, partial to other siblings, hypocritical, indifferent, et cetera. It is never a matter of just a single factor, but always the whole constellation that exerts the untoward influence on a child’s growth. As a result, the child does not develop a feeling of belonging, of “we,” but instead a profound insecurity and vague apprehensiveness, for which I use the term basic anxiety. It is his feeling of being isolated and helpless in a World conceived of as potentially hostile. The cramping pressure of his basic anxiety prevents the child from relating himself to others with the spontaneity of his real feelings, and forces him to find ways to cope with them. #RandolphHarris 4 of 25
The child must (unconsciously) deal with them in ways which do not arouse, or increase, but rather alley his basic anxiety. The particular attitudes resulting from such unconscious strategical necessities are determined both by the child’s given temperament and by the contingencies of the environment. Briefly, he may try to cling to the most powerful person around him; he may try to rebel and fight; he may try to shut others out in his inner life and withdraw emotionally from them. In principle, this means that he can move toward, against, or away from others. Manifestations of childhood-onset schizophrenia are usually similar to those in adolescents and adults, but delusions and visual hallucinations (which may be more common among children) may be less elaborate. My guess is that psychotic hallucinations and hypnogogic experiences are related but not identical. Hallucinations are stronger, more durable, and more consistently organized. They are often more alien and negative too. It may be that these are one process made different by the patient’s poorer insight and greater struggle against l’autre moi. For instance, one child had loud voices shouting at him all day so that he killed one person, broke windows, et cetera. Nothing abated the voices so I helped him to meet and deal with them. As he came to accept what they suggested, they quietened, became less negative, and eventually merged into his thoughts. It would appear that the intensity of most schizophrenic hallucinations, as contrasted with the faint delicacy of hypnogogic experiences, is a function of the patient’s struggle against l’autre moi. #RandolphHarris 5 of 25
It looks as though hallucinations are generated by the patient’s rigid alienation from his other side, making it more attacking, fiercer, and alien in its aspects. There are less common beneficial, supportive hallucinations which are also alien and archetypal in nature. One man had a spirited female hallucination who was gay, humorous, and quite wise in matters of ancient symbols in marked contrast to the patient’s disinterest and lack of ability in the matter of symbols. In fact, this lady hallucination was the most gifted and sensitive person I have ever met! Hallucinations seem either lower than the patient (meaner, more involving of pleasures of the flesh, more limited and tormenting) or higher, but either way alien. They may be either higher or lower because they are the rejected, unused aspects of the person. A dream is a normal and common message from l’autre moi having less interference from consciousness in its creation than any of the phenomena (except hallucinations) touched upon this far. An example will remind the reader of its strange language and strange frame of reference. Most night I dreamt I saw a little something sticking out of my chest over to heart. To my horror it moved, making me feel that something alien was alive in me. I pulled it out, fearing it may mean there are more in me. It looked like an ancient creature one inch long, vaguely like a cobra in shape. It has a tail webbed like a duck’s foot. It moved and seemed very ancient. #RandolphHarris 6 of 25
At first, the dream meant almost nothing. Then it came to me. “Out of my chest, from the region of my heart,” I associated with this essay. I pulled something out of my heart. It is more living than I wanted it to be. Like the cobra, it is lovely (my association to my cobra—yours is a different creature), rhythmic and yet deadly in its possibilities. The deadly aspect of this paper will not be apparent yet, but it has to do with ego’s limited scope, being servant to an inner master. What I pull out of me is ancient, before man. It is conceivable that this inner World was latent before man and probably the first World known by man. It wiggles and frightens—this ancient knowledge I pull out of my chest—fearsome for there is more there that I have not yet met and understood. The dream images my feelings today. It was written in an ancient language I am only coming to understand. Emanuel Swedenborg, in the mid-18th century, aptly called this the language of representations. It was given from the region of mind that represents itself, endlessly. Mr. Swedenborg appears to have presented the most detailed study of this language ever attempted. As shown in his Spiritual Diary, most of his work was done in a state similar to hypnogogic. It is his contention, backed by much evidence, that this inner language of representations has as its reference innermost subjective qualities, and is the language of much of the Christian Bible. His material is so extensive that scholars have taken a lifetime to fully comprehend it. Seen in this light, much that seems obscure and archaic in the Christian Bible takes on great meaning. #RandolphHarris 7 of 25
One of the Ten Commandments in the Christian Bible state, “Thou shalt not kill.” Man may take whatever defensive preparations he pleases, but he must stop short at the point of killing other men. The refusal to slaughter would then evoke powerful spiritual forces, and if enough persons evoke them the end of war would be assured. However it is unlikely that such an idealistic course would appeal to more than a small minority of mankind, so that if the end of war is to be brought about in another way, it can be by the political method of an international policing army operated by a World federation of peoples. Since such a federation does not exist today, its only possibility of coming into existence is through the hard lessons learnt out of the appalling destructiveness of an atomic war. There is no other alternative to such a war than the renunciation of the right to kill. Philosophy is essentially realizable hence practical. It uses the idea of nonviolence only under the governance of wisdom. If violent punishment or causing pain will be better in the end than refraining, it would not hesitate. They have their place. However, because philosophy combines and balances its wisdom with compassion, with mercy and, if advisable, forgiveness, its violence operates side by side with nonviolence. To meet the assaults of vicious human beasts with sympathetic nonviolence in the optimistic belief that this attitude is not only morally correct but may also change the attacker’s character, is to deceive oneself. #RandolphHarris 8 of 25
Such passivity invites the continuance of attack and promotes further crime. It persuades the criminal individual to turn potential victims into actual ones. It actually contributes to the other man’s delinquency by encouraging him to adventure father into wrong-doing. Himan interaction is nothing more than a continuous string of contact and withdrawal, contact and withdrawal. And for all the variations in the ways humans interact, there are only two kinds of contact and two kinds of withdrawal. The two kinds of contact are: Peripheral contact. This involves people “touching” each other at the edges of the self, normally through what each is saying or doing. It is essentially an impersonal or nonintimate form of communication. Examples: “Fill ‘er up.” “I will meet you for lunch Thursday.” “How is business?” Core-to-core contact. This involves people coming together at their innermost selves. As a result of this contact, they are moved or touched. Some examples: “I really enjoy being with you.” “You are a good boss—and you are also a good man.” Core-to-Core contact can also be unspoken, as with a look that says, “I love you.” Note that, to be core-to-core, contact does not have to be intimate or sexual, but must be deeply emotional. The two kinds of withdrawal are: Manipulative. The person withdrawing attempts to isolate himself or herself from another. Examples: “You are a big boy now; you should not talk that way.” “Do not call us, we will call you.” Healthy. Here, the person who breaks off contact does it out of a position of self-respect. He moves toward something, but just away. Examples: “I am really tired right now and I have to end this conversation because of that.” “Thanks, but I have heard that story before. I do not need to hear it again.” #RandolphHarris 9 of 25
Doesn’t Everybody? The thesis of this approach of life is: “it is all right to have measles, since everybody has it.” Of course it is not all right, since measles can be a dangerous disease. The classical example of “Doesn’t Everybody?” occurred when a woman who was addicted to colonic irrigations came into a therapy group. She began to talk about her adventures at the colonic-irrigation parlour and everybody listened tolerantly until someone asked “What is a colonic irrigation?” The woman seemed surprised to learn that there could be so many people in one room who did not take colonic irrigations. “Doesn’t everybody?” Both her parents did, and most of her friendships were made at the irrigation parlour. The chief topic of conversation at her bridge club was comparing one irrigation parlour with another. If it is reinforced by parents at home or teachers in the classroom, the “Doesn’t Everybody?” sweatshirt, which is a favourite at high school, especially among cheerleaders, drum majorettes, and boys on the make, even at that age, it may have sinister connotations. It is also good for business, where it is heavily exploited by undertakers, and in a lighter way by insurance salesmen. Interestingly enough, many stock salesman, who are almost as conservative as undertakers, are wary of it. The key word, and the one that gives it its explosive political quality, is “Everybody.” Who is Everybody? For the wearers of this sweatshirt, Everybody is “The people I say are O.K., including me, I hope.” For this reason, they usually have two other sweatshirts that they wear on appropriate occasions. They put on “Doesn’t Everybody?” when they go out among strangers. #RandolphHarris 10 of 24
However, when they are with the people they admire, they wear either “How Am I Doing?” or “I know Prominent People.” They are devotees of what Sinclair Lewis made into Babbittry and what Alan Harrington satirically called “Centralism,” the doctrine that the safest place to be is in dead center; Mr. Harrington’s hero became such a thorough Centralist that he was able to sell an insurance policy every thirty second or so. The wearer of this sweatshirt has, for his favourite pastime, “Me Too,” and his favourite game is “Come To Find Out” that actually “everybody” does not, as he knew all along. Thus his favourite feeling is being taken by (phony) surprise. His nickname is Creepy and his hero is someone who keeps everybody in line. In the front room he does what he thinks the O.K. people are doing and conspicuously avoids the not-O.K. ones, while in the back room he performs outlandish deeds, or even horrors. He lives in a World where he is misunderstood except by his cronies, and his script calls for him to be done in for one of his secret misdeeds. When the end comes, he does not protest much because he feels he really deserves it according to his own slogan: “He who breaks the rules of everybody must suffer.” And that is the kicker on the back of his sweatshirt: “He is Different—Must be a Kook or a Communist or Something.” Closely allied to the sweatshirt is the tombstone. #RandolphHarris 11 of 25
The fury of annihilation, appropriate to every rebel, then assumes its most common form. The apocalypse of crime—as conceived by Mr. Rimbaud in the person of the prince who insatiably slaughters his subjects—and endless licentiousness are rebellious themes that will be taken up again by the surrealists. However, finally, even with Mr. Rimbaud, nihilist dejection prevailed; the struggle, the crime itself, proved too exacting for his exhausted mind. If we may venture to says so, the seer who drank in order not to forget ended by finding in drunkenness the heavy sleep so well known to our contemporaries. One can sleep on the beach, or at Aden. Even if the order is degrading, and one consents, no longer actively, but passively, to accept the order of the World. Mr. Rimbaud’s silence is also a preparation for the silence of authority, which hovers over minds resigned to everything save to the necessity of putting up a fight. Mr. Rimbaud’s great intellect, suddenly subordinated to money, proclaims the advent of other demands, which are at first excessive and which will later be put to use by the police. To be nothing—that is the cry of the mind exhausted by its own rebellion. This leads to the problem of suicide of the mind, which, after all, is less respectable than the surrealists’ suicide, and more fraught with consequences. Surrealism itself, coming at the end of this great act of rebellion, is only significant because it attempted to perpetuate that aspect of Mr. Rimbaud which alone evokes our sympathy. Deriving the rules for a rebellious asceticism for the letter about the seer and the system it implies, he illustrates the struggle between the will to be and the desire for annihilation, between the yes and the no, which we have discovered again and again at every stage of rebellion. For all these reasons, rather than repeat the endless commentaries that surround Mr. Rimbaud’s work, it seemed preferable to rediscover him and to follow him among his successors. #RandolphHarris 12 of 25
Absolute rebellion, total insubordination, sabotage on principle, the humour and cult of the absurd—such is the nature of surrealism, which defines itself, in its primary intent, as the incessant examination of all values. The refusal to draw any conclusions is flat, decisive, and provocative. “We are specialists in rebellion.” Surrealism, which according to Aragon, is a machine for capsizing the mind, was first conjured up by the Dadaist movement, whose romantic origins and anemic dandyism must be noted. Non-signification and contradiction are therefore cultivated for their own sakes. “The real Dadaists are against Dad. Everyone is a director of Sada.” Or again: “What is good? What is ugly? What is hreat, strong, weak…? Do not know! Do not know!” These parlour nihilists were obviously threatened with having to act as slaves to the strictest orthodoxies. However, there is something more surrealism than standard nonconformism, the legacy left by Mr. Rimbaud, which, in fact, Mr. Breton recapitulates as follows: “Must we abandon all hope at that particular point?” A glance at the notorious sake reminds us that the Human Race is literally a mobility-contest in which small gene pools race to keep ahead of the engulfing wave of insectoid collectivism. The Human Race is exactly a competition of speed. Small gene pools being squirted ahead by swarming pressures into empty ecological niches where new realities—plan-its—can be created. The Human Race is a run to the West. The Contest is between the collective and the individual. Cn the individual freedom-gene pools accelerate fast enough to leave the planet before being overrun by Eastern hivism? #RandolphHarris 13 of 25
Mobility is the key to increased intelligence. The issue is, however, never in doubt. The swarming pressure of the primitive-past lapping at the outskirts of the frontier is simply a signal to speed up. At exactly that moment when the forces of homogenous unity, oneness, socialist-equality, cultural-determinism seem to become strict and rigid doctrines—exactly at that moment genetic-elitism reappears among the outpost—outcastes and new gene pools assemble on the frontier outposts. Everyone on the frontier is self-selected for frontier behaviour. The new ecological niche is always filled by those who are robot-templated for mobility, independence and change. An important caste to any species. Everyone on the frontier is self-selected for frontier behaviour—mobility, independence and change. The ascent of gene pools up the Atlantic in the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th Centuries was a genetic-selection process of gigantic significance. It must be recalled that immigration to North America involved an amazing seed blossoming of gene pools. Very few immigrants made the climb alone. Typically, each European gene pool sent its best fertile stock. Once a beachhead had been established in the new ecological niche, more settled members of the gene pools could follow. In most cases, however, new gene pools were formed by mutated-migrants of former Old World gene pools. The human race is a run to the West. The high-road North was a ladder, a series of ledges to be scaled. #RandolphHarris 14 of 25
The dimensions of healthy personality are interrelated. The capacity to experience a broad range of emotion, and to control its expression, is most likely to be found in persons who have been competent at satisfying their basic needs, who have retained a firm grasp on reality, who have achieved a healthy “self-structure,” and whose relationships with other people are secure and authentic. If persons repress their emotions or experience troubling emotional responses (such as irrational fears and manias), this suggest that they should endavour to improve their competence, their relationships with others, or their view of themselves. On the other hand, the work of behaviour therapists has shown that people who complain of excessive anxiety or a specific phobia can be aided to live more fully by a direct attack upon the symptom itself. The techniques of “extinguishing” unwanted emotional responses do work, and they can make life more livable for a person who has been thwarted by hitherto uncontrollable fear or rage. We have helped patients of ours to overcome a fear of the opposite gender, to accept their God-given gender, of public speaking, of authority figures, by methods of classical conditioning and behaviour modification, as well as through interviews aimed at encouraging patients to learn new skills, alter their self-concepts or self-ideals, and change their relationships with others in the direction of greater authenticity Patients who have been helped in these ways attest that there is great joy and enlivenment in overcoming the repression of feelings, so that one is free to feel and to express such feelings; and there is comparable joy in being free of a hitherto uncontrolled emotional response that rendered life unendurable. #RandolphHarris 15 of 25
Sometimes people do not realize the seriousness of a transgression or, in some cases, rationalize it away. No nation can safely trust its martial honour to leaders who do not maintain the universal code which distinguishes between those things that are right and those things that are wrong. Honour provides a moral compass for character and personal conduct in the Sacramento Fire Department. It means that you live by words and actions consistent with high ideals. Honour is the glue that holds the Sacramento Fire Department together. How you conduct yourself and meet obligations defines you as a person and a leader. As a Sacramento Firefighter or EMT you are a leader with integrity and act consistently according to clear principles, not just what works now. The Sacramento Fire Department riles on leaders of integrity who possess high moral standards and who are honest in word and deed. You are honest to others by not presenting yourself or your actions as anything other than what they are, remaining committed to the trust. If a mission cannot be accomplished, your integrity requires you to inform the chain of command. If your unit’s operational readiness rate is truly 70 percent, despite the senior commander’s required standard of 9- percent, you will not instruct team members to adjust numbers. It is your duty to report the truth and develop solutions to meet the standard with honour and integrity. Identifying the underlying maintenance issues and raising the quality bar could ultimately save lives. #RandolphHarris 16 of 25
If you inadvertently pass on bad information, you should correct it as soon as you discover the error. Do the right thing not because it is convenient or because you have no other choice. Choose the path of truth because your character permits nothing less. You should always be able to separate right from wrong in every situation. Just as important, you should do what is right, even at personal cost. As a Sacramento Firefighter or EMT, you cannot hide what you do, so you must carefully decide how to act. Sacramento Firefighters and EMTs are always on display. To instill the Sacramento Fire Department’s Values in others, you must demonstrate them personally. It is known that you always resolve conflicts between personal and Sacramento Fire Department’s Values, and that you are morally complete leaders. If you have doubts, please consult a mentor whose values and judgment you respect. Face fear, danger, or adversity (physical and moral). Personal courage is not the absence of fear. It is the ability to put fear aside and do what is necessary. Personal courage takes two forms: physical and moral. As a member of the Sacramento Fire Department, it has been noted that you demonstrate both. Your physical courage has allowed you to overcome fears of bodily harm and do your duty. It triggers bravery that allows has allowed you to take risks in firefighting and/or medical services in spite of the fear of wounds or even death. One lieutenant serving in Afghanistan displayed such courage despite serving in a time when he and his fellow African-American Soldiers were not fully recognized for their actions. #RandolphHarris 17 of 25
When you take full responsibility for your decisions and actions, even when things go wrong, you display moral courage. “I got married when I was going to school at Santa Clara University. My first wife, as I call her, and I have had three children—two boys and a girl, in that order. My two sons are both firefighters in Los Angeles. One is just about to be promoted to captain, and the other is in the process of taking the engineer’s exam. So they are starting to go through the system. My wife has always been concerned about the danger. I think most wives are. She was a registered nurse and worked in the emergency department and intensive care, so she understood the physical consequences of firefighting. But she has also understood its attraction for me. She says she has lived with “the other woman” for thirty years—the Sacramento Fire Department. Women who are able to maintain their profession both as a vocation and an avocation are basically saints. Which is the way that I would describe her. Just a super human being. Firefighters pay a unique price in the duty schedules, the danger, and the dedicated. And during the first twenty years in the service, I was working at least two jobs, sometimes three. I was going to school, I was teaching school. I got my bachelor’s degree in political science, and my master’s in public administration. I was head of the Fire Science Department. I taught three of four fire science classes for ten or twelve years. #RandolphHarris 18 of 25
“So there was my wife, bundling me up to go to work, or getting me ready to go to school, or ready to teach. Between all those activities, she was having babies. With all this, the time you spend together is very important, it is high-quality time. It is interesting that after your kids have gone through all that and have seen all of it, and their activities have had to take second place to yours, that you discover one day that they have joined the fire department. In a sense, my kids were raised by firefighters. It’s all they have ever seen, so it’s probably a very natural thing for these really first-class people to be comfortable figures and role models for my sons. And in my own case, I think of all the education I’ve gotten and realized that the really important education was from the guys who raised me in the fire department. You appreciate the support the whole things has given you, and you hope you’ll give some of it back to the service. I never said anything to my sons, I think they decided for themselves. They both came on the department, the first exam they took. They both have been active firefighters, and I am proud of that. They are not dire scholars, they are attracted to the firefighting part of it, the service delivery part. They are big, tough kids, and they like fire operations, and I like to think that I see some of myself in hat process. So I get to kind of relive all of that.” #RandolphHarris 19 of 25
Citizens, give the right-of-way to any law enforcement vehicle, fire engine, ambulance, or other emergency vehicle using a siren and red lights. Failure to pull over may result in a ticket. Drive to the right edge of the road and stop until the emergency vehicles(s) have passed. When approaching a stationary emergency vehicle with flashing emergency signal lights (hazard lights), move over and slow down. If you are in an intersection when you see an emergency vehicle, continue through the intersection. Drive to the right as soon as it is safe and stop. Obey any direction, order, or signal given by a law enforcement officer, or a firefighter. Even if they conflict with existing signs, signals, or laws, follow their orders. When their siren or flashing lights are on, it is against the law to follow within 300 feet of any fire engine, law enforcement vehicle, ambulance, or other emergency vehicle. If you drive to the scene of a fire, collision, or other disaster, you can be arrested. When you do this, you are getting in the way of firefighters, ambulance crews, or other rescue and emergency personnel. Moral courage is the willingness to stand firm on values, principles, and convictions. It enables you to stand up for what you believe is right, regardless of the consequences. The concept of professional courage does not always mean being as tough as nails, either. It also suggests a willingness to listen to other peoples’ problems, to go to bat for them in a tough situation and it means knowing just how far they can go. It also means being willing to tell the boss when he or she is wrong. #RandolphHarris 20 of 25
The Sacramento Fire Department is older than the City of Sacramento. On 5 February 2025, the Sacramento Fire Department will be celebrating their 175th birthday. This is a very important milestone. Understanding the expectations and applying the attributes and competencies prepares the Sacramento Fire Department for situations they are likely to encounter. Fire fighters who gain expertise through operational assignments, institutional learning, and self-development will be versatile enough to adapt to most situations and grow into greater responsibilities. All members of the Sacramento Fire Department are loyal, dedicated to duty, respectful, selfless, honourable, possess a great deal of integrity and display personal courage in the face of danger and adversity. You can save lives by making a donation to the Sacramento Fire Department. The proud members of the Sacramento Fire Department are committed to providing the highest quality and highest level of courteous and responsive services to the residents, businesses, and visitors of Sacramento. This is accomplished by implementing comprehensive strategies and training in fire prevention, fire suppression, emergency medical services, and all risk mitigation, including human-caused and natural disasters, emergency preparedness, emergency cervices and community-based fire services. The Sacramento Fire Department physical requirements for the firefighters and EMTs state that you must be medically and physically fit, and able to pass the Occupational Physical Assessment Test. Therefore, physical and mental toughness are just the basic requirements. You achieve excellence when you habitually show discipline and commitment to the department’s values. Individuals and organizations pursue excellence to improve. #RandolphHarris 21 of 25
As a reminder, parents, pleasure teach your children love America and be patriotic citizens and to buy goods and services made in America. It is also important to respect law and order and treat your elders with respect. Having the Southern American boarder open and not having American farmland protected, not producing beef, poultry, fish, fruit, produce and dairy in America, and without American goods and services being our number one manufactured and selling items, America has created a dangerous and significantly elevated risks to national security, national economic security, and national public health. Some people may believe that these claims are overstated, but by not routinely monitoring Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CEVs) or other security relevant alerts, such as end-of-life of machinery is how the Oroville Dam Crisis occurred in 2017. Other crises that have occurred due to neglect of critical infrastructure is the 2025 Palisades fires because Southern California ran out of water, when they are located next to an ocean and they could have simply created desalinating plants to help with the water shortage. The water is so plentiful that it is currently eroding land and causing homes to fall into the sea. American government should know all exploitable vulnerabilities and fix them prior to the situation becoming a crisis. Failure to take such mitigating actions is dangerous and significantly elevates risk to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety. The American government must understand that significant time and resources must be invested in America. They must also encourage corporations to plan for both mitigating safety vulnerabilities in the short term and eliminating them in the long term. For instance, a company might begin by reaching out to the federal, state or local government and requesting tax incentives to provide security to dangerous communities, to help the government repair bridges and potholes. #RandolphHarris 22 of 25
America needs an approach to eliminate safety vulnerabilities in American cities. There needs to be a road map by the end of 2025, outlining a prioritized approach to eliminate crisis situations in America. There is enough money to send aid to foreign nations, but the American government does not have enough money to care their infrastructure, provide adequate resources, nor end the affordable housing crisis. Nor is there enough money to fund other national critical functions (NCFs). These bad practices of putting America and Americans last is considered exceptionally risky, particularly to national security, national economic security, and national public healthy and safety. In 2024, Americans spent $100 billion on Japanese cars. In an effort to help America pull through the massive national deficit, please buy American made cars. American made cars used to be the envy of the World and because American car brands are offering a wide range of options, from family SUVs to electric vehicles and luxury sedans, we are now seeing a resurging interest. American made cars are equal or superior to those made overseas. The Chevrolet Trax, for instance, is a well-designed, fuel efficient, and safe SUV. And as you know, there is no better car on Earth than 1950-1970s American Muscle Car. Americans make sure superior product, but we are buying things from other nations. American food imports have risen by 300 percent since 1999. American farmland declined by nearly 20 million acres between 2017 and 2022. As of 2022, there were 880.1 million acres of land dedicated to farming, compared to 900.1 million in 2017. The data shows there are now little more than 1.9 million farms in the country. Americans and American corporations spent $136 billion on food and beverages from other countries. It is a national security risk to lose American Farms and farmers. If there is a war, and most of our meat, produce, poultry, dairy, and fruit is coming from foreign counties, we stand the risk of starving. #RandolphHarris 23 of 25
With war breaking out all over the World, in these uncertain times, it is very important to bring American farms back. Las Vegas is running out of buildable land and is expected to reach its maximum number of homes in 2032. So, home prices are expected to rise dramatically. Much like the land crisis in Las Vegas, we could also run out of land to farm and will not be able to grow or cultivate our own food. We can protect American farmland and support American farmers by buying American made beef, poultry, dairy, and produce. Also, country of origin labeling is very important so Americans can know where their food is coming from and have the ability to support American farmers and ranchers. As money flows, it influences further investment. Save the land that sustains us by protecting American farmland. Once the land is built on, we lose it forever. And in the future, there may be food wars. Also, to ensure that we have farmland and buildable land for future use, we need to start limiting the number of people allowed to immigrant to America. Perhaps with the immigrants we do allow into America, there needs to be a diversity program to make sure we have a population that equally represents all races of people. If Americans continue to spend money on American products, then more need to be made to keep up the inventory. When investors notice these goods are selling, it gives them the confidence to pour more money into that local business. It shows that people want these goods made in America and pressures investors to keep these goods and services in America. The jobs stay here, the business stays in American, wages naturally increase, and more money is invested to keep up with demand. This reduces the burden on the taxpayer. When you support American businesses, that money stays in our economy and can help to reduce the national debt. The government creates debt by borrowing from businesses in the private sector or from foreign countries. It also increases the national debt by spending more than it gains in tax revenue in a fiscal year. When people shop locally, more tax money stays in the economy and goes to the government. This way, it keeps more money in our national economy and keeps more jobs located in American which also sends more taxes to the government, which can again help to reduce the national debt. #RandolphHarris 24 of 25
When you buy foreign goods, these companies usually have lighter tax loads or exemptions, meaning less money for the nation debt, plus you are helping to strengthen these foreign nations by send more money overseas. Buying American made products is also better for the environment and helps to reduce the carbon footprint because these products do not have to travel nearly as far. Furthermore, American companies and manufacturers are held to much higher standards in regard to pollution. American companies have to be more careful about air, land, and water pollution and have proper ways to dispose of waste. Moreover, please remember to respect law and order and treat your elders with the utmost dignity and kindness possible. And take your education seriously so that you will be successful in life and make your family proud. It is inborn in the human minds to wish to know. If this begins with the endless surface questions of a child’s curiosity, if it continues into deeper questions of a scientist’s probing investigation, it cannot and does not stop there. For the higher part of the mind will eventually come into unfoldment, that union of abstract reflective thought with mystical intuition, which is true intelligence, which needs and sees a view of the whole of things. And so, the knowing faculty enters the realm of philosophy. As a reminder, parents, pleasure teach your children love America and be patriotic citizens and to buy goods and services made in America. It is also important to respect law and order and treat your elders with respect. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. #RandolphHarris 25 of 25
The Winchester Mystery House
The Winchester Mystery House is full of surprises. What was your favorite, “Oooh!” moment during your visit at the mansion? (And for those of you who still have to check it off your bucket list… we will hopefully see you soon.)
Experience an unforgettable journey back to the time of kings and queens with this entry ticket for The Winchester Mansion in Santa Clara, California which was the residence of Sarah L. Winchester. Take advantage of this fascinating experience. After tour, there will be time enjoy the mansion’s splendor at your own pace. You might even discover secret passages.
Please come and enjoy a delicious meal in Sarah’s Café, stroll along the paths of the beautiful Victorian gardens, and wonder through the miles of hallways in the World’s most mysterious mansion.
For further information about tours, including group tours, weddings, school events, birthday party packages, facility rentals, and special events please visit the website: https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/
Please visit the online giftshop, and purchase a gift for friends and relatives as well as a special memento of The Winchester Mystery House. A variety of souvenirs and gifts are available to purchase. https://shopwinchestermysteryhouse.com/
Ever wish you could go behind the ropes and explore the mansion freely?
You can with our virtual 360 tour! This online tour lets you wander through the home at your own pace and admire every intricate detail up close ✨Only $8.99. Link in bio to purchase. https://360tourwmh.com/
BMW’s M series is legendary among car enthusiasts. Launched in the 1970s, the M series was originally designed for racing but quickly became a favorite for everyday driving due to its unparalleled performance. Models like the M3 and M5 are considered benchmarks in the world of high-performance cars.
Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP
L. Randolph Harris
Partner
San Francisco
d. 415.984.9658
f. 877.597.8584
L. Randolph Harris is a partner in JMBM’s San Francisco office who works with a broad array of privately held companies and their owners on business and tax matters. Randy advises clients with regard to business transition, taxable and tax deferred mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, restructuring, integrated tax planning, federal and state tax controversy resolution, and real estate transactions. Randy’s experience includes counseling mature companies on operations, business transactions and mergers and acquisitions and counseling emerging and growth companies on business organization, financing and operations. He advises on income tax planning for individuals, partnerships and corporations and also advises clients on estate and gift tax planning, including business transition planning. Representative Merger and Acquisition Transactions
- Represented electronic game developer Respawn Entertainment LLC, as tax counsel, in its $450 million sale to Electronic Arts
- Represented the Polymer Technology Group in its approximately $200 million sale to DSM N.V.
- Represented seller in the sale of a ready mix concrete company for approximately $30 million
- Represented sellers and buyers in the sale and acquisition of electronic discovery companies ranging from approximately $3 million – $30 million
- Represented buyer in the acquisition of private mortgage brokerage company
- Represented seller in the sale of credit card service company
- Represented seller in the sale of building materials company
- Represented buyer of specialty architectural product manufacturing company
- Represented sellers and buyers in the sale and purchase of general building contractors
- Represented sellers and buyers in the sale and purchase of sub-contractors in various trades including plumbing, underground, electrical, landscaping and tile
- Represented seller in the sale of surgical centers
- Represented sellers and buyers in the sale and purchase of medical and dental practices
- Represented seller of fire protection companies
- Randy is certified by the California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization as a Specialist in Taxation Law. He has authored materials for the California Continuing Education of the Bar on Partnership Taxation, published in the tax, legal and business fields and has lectured on tax and business matters for the California Continuing Education of the Bar, the National Business Institute and national trade groups.
Services: Taxation, Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate, International Tax Group, Real Estate, Family Office, Opportunity Zone Group
Randolph Harris II International 