Let me be clear…this page was created with the intention to manifest prosperity, and will literally change your life forever….if you allow it to!
Why do I say this?
My purpose is to serve others, to lift and empower those around me to achieve their goals.
If you’re anything like me, you love the Internet and making money. I’ll explain how I combine the two and changed my life. However let me tell you the reason why I started this blog profile was because I was so disillusioned with the MLM industry as a whole having spent 20 years immersed in it.
I know the GOOD, BAD and UGLY! I wanted to meet and give back to other networkers and newbie entrepreneurs to help them skirt many of the GOTCHAS you never knew about. I have a mission to help, and educate so others do not have to experience the heart ache and financial potholes this industry camouflages.
I’m here to help you find your real deal
Work from home.
Fire your boss.
Make real residual income fast.
I have twenty years of real world success and experience in this industry.
I am committed to helping you find your real deal without getting a raw deal.
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Life is an adventure…and we’re living it!
I have assembled helpful information for you as the author and creator of “How to find the real deal without getting a raw deal.”which can be accessed here. www.howtofindtherealdeal.com
The Most Powerful Lead Generation Site Available To Get Paid Daily! www.mlmdisclosed.com
Though it has been three years since Mom went on to her next great adventure…I miss her continually and treasure all the great memories, and mementos.
She left a legacy of tradition, generational photo albums and the family’s heritage cataloged and spirally bound for her children, grandchildren, and generations to come.
As the day winds down I sit reflecting of my life half lived…. the good times, the bad times…all the in betweens…are sandwiched with laughter, tears, errors, tragedy, co-mingled with hope.
Hope is such a funny word. Yet any event, circumstance or deed started with the seed of hope.
It is an intrinsic value that I hold dear. And no matter what is going on in my life. I have a childish optimistic hope. I know the plans that God has for me and they are plans to prosper me and give me a future of hope.
And I am so hopeful for the future.
A warm breeze stirs the trees, and the sound of mowing in the distance breaks into my reminiscing. I’m thankful my mother-in-law is still with us, She is a spunky gal full of wit, wisdom, and charming stories of days gone by. We’ve shared 28 Mother’s Days, I will drive up to visit her Monday and login our 29th.
Of all the gifts that have been given and received throughout the years on Mother’s Day. Some of my favorites have been:
A clay ashtray my daughter fashioned and painted.
Jewelry and necklaces she made from beads and glass.
Flowers she picked and arranged with love.
Meals she and Mike prepared.
Cards that were so original… they either had me laughing or crying.
My favorite perfume that she loved to smell on me.
A potholder she me made from weaving string.
Phones calls telling me she loves me and misses me.
Nothing expensive or elaborate…..A dinner date just the two of us and a movie…..and the most treasured are the phone calls.
It doesn’t matter what type of day I’ve had. The interruption in my busy day to see that it’s my girl always quickens my heart.
This Video reminds me somewhat of us….it certainly chocked me up and made me smile.
I hope your Mother’s Day is filled with family, fun and laughter…and if you don’t have any family near, go share with a forgotten Mom in a nursing home...that is how we will wind down our day.
God Bless you and Happy Mother’s Day.
More inspiration for Moms:
I love thinking of Mother’s Day as a celebration of all women who nurture. Here’s hoping we all get a little extra love back this weekend And a little tip if you get a flower arrangement don’t over water your blooms Two or three.…
Get Inspired Read And Watch Stories That Choke You Up
I know for me, something happens to my body’s chemistry when I read or watch an inspiring story that tightens my throat with emotion…has me squirming in discomfort…and floods my eyes with tears. My thoughts can be chaotic with embarrassment if I am in a crowd…somebody might see, or the heart felt release that patty cakes with joy because I am just so darned inspired…overcome…filled with…you know…fill in your own blank.
I am reminded that I have a choice every morning when I wake up…to plant that first thought that will set the stage to impact the outcome of my attitude for the day…good or bad. When the first thought that bombards me is negative I have grown in my ability to release it immediately and replace it with a prayer of gratitude.
One of my favorite sites I go to inspire me is Guideposts
The world is filled with inspirational stories of everyday people who find themselves in life or death situations and miraculously live to tell about it. They overcome life-threatening illnesses, survive tornadoes and floods and other close calls. But these real-life survival stories are more than tales of endurance; they are inspiring stories about miracles and the faith and hope that sustain us in times of crisis.
The decisive action and courage, the perseverance and tenacity that lead to happy endings in each of these survival stories, you will find at the website are sure to lift your spirit and strengthen your faith.
Among the many big news stories that blew up last week, the Peyton Manning to Denver and Tim Tebow to the New York Jets trades had the biggest boom, at least in these parts. Before you go thinking, Why would Tim Tebow play in such a godless town?, there are churches almost everywhere you go in Manhattan. I can see three from my twenty-first floor window at Guideposts right now.
If the city ever gets to be too much for him, Tim is welcome to shelter in our Midtown offices anytime. In fact I would love to talk to Tebow. The time is right for a Guideposts cover story.
People have always wanted us to do Tim, going back to his college days in Florida. The problem was, Tim was more or less perfect.
Nobody was better than Tebow and nobody had stronger faith. He was the Christian Golden Boy and that didn’t make for a very good Guideposts story. We like to see that people have to lean on their faith and use it when the going gets tough. But for Tim, everything seemed smooth as silk. I thought we might want to pursue Tim last year but I didn’t see a story there, either. Tim was doing quite well for a stretch of games and media access was restricted. I had to ask myself: Superstar Super Christian has it all? That isn’t a Guideposts story! READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE.
12 Year Old Katie Tucker Inspires Me…See If Her Story Inspires You.
I attended a First Responders Dinner that acknowledged two outstanding officers that truly have made a difference in their communities. Here are some more stories of bravery and selflessness that I hope inspire and touch you.
When my head hits the pillow I am so stoked I learned something new in my marketing education… then used practical application to perform my new lesson …a smile accompanies me to sleep and I wake up with that same smile ready for the next new adventure.
And it is an adventure. I tease my family that my head is exploding with all the new goodies I’m learning and my brain is forming tons of new phalanges…I can imagine them popping when I rewind a training to make sure I digest the information.
With thousands of MLM companies in existance all over the world, the industry becomes confusing, daunting, and unfortunately, not all will ensure success.
Marketing changes everything.
However, with the proper company and with the proper outlook, success can never be far behind. We will look at several aspects from a marketing stand point and aside from finding a reputable company, you must also find the products of the company you have chosen to be reputable as well.
You must actually believe in the product of your company and you must actually use it. There are many ways to market…Some of these traditional methods are:
Television
Newspaper ads,
Flyers, signs and billboards,
Radio segments,
Direct mail advertisements
And face to face presentations.
Although these are great ways to get the business names out into the community, it does offer major disadvantages. An ad in a newspaper can cost anywhere from 200 to 1500 or more depending on the location and the size of the ad. Since it is limited you must work hard and direct your budget to the largest audience possible for the lowest amount of money possible. In fact, there are over twenty one hundred stateside MLM businesses just waiting for you to be a part of their company and sell their products or services.
I thought Riley made some interesting points in her video see if you agree.
Now, working from home is a great way to never step into an office building again or report to a boss. This does have its advantages because now you make your own business decisions. However, before becoming serious about working for an MLM, it is important for you to learn more about the company you want to become an associate with.
Finding a micro-niche, learning what those customers want, and finding a way to help them find the products they want is niche marketing. Internet niche marketing is selling products or information to those customers through online avenues. Nothing will turn a potential customer away faster than an Internet marketer who demonstrates a lack of understanding of what should be common language usage. You need to know what keywords your potential customers will use when they search for your product online. .
You can get great results with your marketing by writing articles and lots of them, and submitting them to article directories. At the end of the article, your resource box gives your name, some brief information, and links to your website.
Many People enjoy the casual, conversational style of blogs, and if they like yours well enough, they may even subscribe to it as an RSS feed.
Answering questions on forums that deal with a topic related to your website can also generate leads for you. I submitted classified ads and I had more links on my website, than Carter has pills. However I was soon shut down for over posting so I bought the top submission software and posted ads on classified ad sites, with lots of trash leads that took up time and energy and amounted to nothing….ever run into those folks that want everything for nothing?
After a year of not really getting off the ground, I switched gears, took the loss and figured this home business stuff was not going to get the best of me……I was going to win. So in Jan 2006 I started investigating home business ventures again, only this time I was going to do my research on home business’s and suggest you do the same.
A great product does not a great business make. Keep that in mind as you move forward armed with your success factors blueprint.
To help your business succeed you need to decide on how you want to promote it. You can choose to pay for advertising, or you can get free advertising by doing the work yourself through Article Marketing which I mentioned earlier and is one prong in my funnel to generate leads.
Your success will increase by making the title interesting, so the people will want to read your article. You also need to place keywords at the front, middle and at the end of your article. This is exactly where I fell short when I started some time ago. As you become a student of the industry, you begin to understand that this is about relationships. Establishing and growing a relationship are two different faces to the same coin. We will cover how to grow relationships in depth in a future post.
It may look easy to do the things necessary to become successful, but in reality it takes commitment and discipline.
The internet is incredible…Think about the reach you will have, it’s incredible Time zones, age, education level, hours of operation…the internet does not discriminate when it comes to making money online.
The start-up costs of your new home-based business will include initial product purchase, online advertising and marketing budgets, Web site hosting fees, telephone bills, software, hardware, educational materials, office products, Domain name, merchant account fees, etc.
The good news is having a home based business affords you many tax benefits so get with your accountant regarding these perks – Making money online requires just as much work as traditional brick and mortar businesses. Research the return on your investment when choosing what products you will market in your new home based business. .
Marketing is the wave of the future it will grow your business, fund your future, and provide for your retirement if you learn to do it right.
We will look at some very interesting and unusual marking methods in future posts so stay tuned.
My personal scare came at a time when I was in the heat of building a business, my daughter was in 4th grade and my Dr. told me I needed a bi-lateral mastectomy after my mammogram came back irregular with calcification’s and a biopsy that showed negative.
I was already scheduled for surgery when a concerned acquaintance suggested there was an alternative path. I questioned the drastic measures that would radically change my life…and began a quest that still 12 years later has me healthy and cancer free.
With discipline, commitment, encouragement and support from my family we embraced a drastic lifestyle change and I thank God and give him the credit that I am whole and well.
I remember the fear I endured, and encourage more women to seek for themselves.
One case study that was a tipping point for me involved two twin sisters that came down with breast cancer at the same time. One sister had a Bi-lateral mastectomy, and kemo…the other sister changed her diet, and went the alternative path.Two years later the one sister had died who had the mastectomy and kemo and the other sister was alive and well.
I had strong opposition from my Dr. that he felt I was making a serious mistake…and today I am thankful I had the courage to deviate from the mainstream school of thought which is surgery, kemo therapy and radiation.
Dr. Mercola’s article has been included in this post with the intention of encouraging women to think outside the box first…..explore your options before you are scared into a procedure that can and could be avoided.
Studies show that surgery or needle biopsies on tiny spots seen in mammograms, and the extra radiation needed to perform these procedures, can actually increase your risk for developing breast cancer, whereas had it been left alone, it may never have developed into cancer at all.
A growing body of evidence is showing that mammography leads to over-testing, over diagnosis, and unnecessary medical procedures, particularly in dense-breasted women, who are more prone to getting false positives or false negatives on mammograms.
Diet and lifestyle changes can help prevent, and in some cases even treat, all kinds of cancers, including breast cancer.
One of my employees details the events that led up to her breast cancer misdiagnosis, and the proactive steps she took to optimize her health and become cancer-free
By Dr. Mercola
Recently, the Harvard School of Public Health shook the cancer industry when it published research showing that mammograms may not only be inappropriate for breast cancer screening, but may actually contribute to significant overdiagnosis of cancer that otherwise would have remained harmless.
According to leading author Mette Kalagerii :
“Mammography might not be appropriate for use in breast cancer screening because it cannot distinguish between progressive and non-progressive cancer…
Radiologists have been trained to find even the smallest of tumors in a bid to detect as many cancers as possible to be able to cure breast cancer.
However, the present study adds to the increasing body of evidence that this practice has caused a problem for women—diagnosis of breast cancer that wouldn’t cause symptoms or death.”
When the scientists also suggested that women need to know the potential harm of mammography errors, the American College of Radiology and Society of Breast Imaging were quick to accuse Harvard’s study of being flawed.
But as more and more women come forward with stories of how they’ve lost their breasts and undergone grueling cancer treatments as a result of overzealous screening, it’s apparent the Harvard team knows what they’re talking about.
A Case in Point…
The Harvard study, released April 3, 2012, reinforces the story of one of the literature researchers that work for this newsletter, whom I mentioned in an article on cancer last year. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010, and scheduled for several months of chemotherapy and radiation when she sought a second opinion at a renowned cancer institute. There, she learned chemo was inappropriate because her type of cancer doesn’t respond to it.
“Since chemo is poison, why would we want to poison you for no reason?” the oncologist told her.
Now she’s agreed to let me tell the rest of her story—one that is a perfect example of what Dr. Kalager was alluding to. Because of its flaws, mammography can lead to an overzealous search for possible cancer, over diagnosis and, ultimately, unnecessary medical procedures for something that, left alone, may never have developed into cancer at all.
Of course the breast imaging industry wasted no time firing off a scathing response to the researcher’s comments. But as I said, my employee’s story illustrates the study’s central thesis exactly: that a growing body of evidence is showing that mammography may be doing more harm than good for a great number of women.
A Teeny Tiny Dot—Followed by a Slew of Procedures
From the year she turned 40, this employee never missed a mammogram. Like many women, she mistakenly believed it was the most appropriate way to prevent breast cancer. She didn’t work for me then, so she didn’t know that radiation from mammograms can actually CAUSE cancer. But in 2008, everything changed.
“I had no lumps, no problems, it was just my regular screening,” she told me. “But after my 2008 mammogram, the technician said she’d seen something on it and needed to do an ultrasound right away. So that’s what we did. But when she was done, she left and came back with another tech, who did a second ultrasound. Then they both left and came back with the radiologist, who did a THIRD ultrasound. After a lengthy exam, the radiologist announced he was scheduling me for an MRI with dye immediately.”
The radiologist explained that he saw a tiny calcification in her breast, and since the ultrasound couldn’t tell him whether it was cancerous, he needed to do the MRI. The MRI was done, but that report wasn’t clear either, listing a final diagnosis as simply “suspicious.” The radiologist wasn’t satisfied.
“He called me at home and said he needed to do a stereotactic biopsy right away,” she said. “Scared, I agreed to it. It was a biopsy from hell, indescribably painful. In the middle of it, the radiologist commented that my ‘breast density’ prevented him from getting a good sighting on where to do the biopsy. I thought he was referring to all the weight I’d gained in the past few years.”
The biopsy came back negative. But her ordeal wasn’t over. She was next sent to a surgeon, who determined that she needed a lumpectomy, despite the negative lab report. So a lumpectomy it was—and that, too, came back negative.
Surgery or Needle Biopsies Can Actually CAUSE Cancer
“I was so relieved,” she told me. “But when I went back for my post-op checkup, there was a small lump at the surgery spot. I didn’t know at the time that there all kinds of studies about how the slightest injury or cut, as well as surgeries and biopsies can actually cause cancer—I just heard that on ABC News recently. I also didn’t know about other studies showing that injuries like my biopsy not only can trigger invasive cancer, but that mammographic compression can spread itviii .
“So when the surgeon said the lump was probably only a hematoma, I went home and ignored it. The lump was still there when it was time for my 2009 mammogram, and I pointed it out to the tech, who looked at it, felt it, and said it might just be scar tissue. When she came out and said everything was fine and I could go home, I asked if she was going to do an ultrasound on the lump, but she said no, there was no need.”
‘No Evidence of Cancer’
The written mammogram report reiterated the tech’s verbal report, saying there was “no evidence of cancer” in her breast. In 2010 she showed the tech the lump again, and again the tech said everything was “fine.”
“But this time I didn’t believe it,” she said. “So I went somewhere else before I even got the report back. I had a biopsy—and learned I had cancer. The very day of my surgery [mastectomy] I got the letter from the radiology center saying they were ‘pleased to inform’ me they’d found ‘no evidence of cancer’ in my breast. It was so crazy I couldn’t even find it in me to cry.”
After the mastectomy, the surgeon wrote her a prescription for a wig and scheduled her for chemo and radiation.
“But by this time I was working for Dr. Mercola, and I was very much aware of my power to take control of my own health,” she said. “So I did some proactive things right then and there, to make sure I was doing everything possible to fight this cancer.”
Diet, Exercise, Lifestyle Changes
The first thing she did was take a cold, hard look at the cancer risk factors of her overall health, diet, and lifestyle.
“I don’t have diabetes or heart problems or cholesterol,” she said. “But I was overweight—a definite risk for both breast cancer and its recurrenceix. Also, despite Dr. Mercola’s warnings on aspartame, I was addicted to Diet Coke—I knew for a fact that in clinical studies, aspartame caused breast tumors in mice, but I still drank it. It was a given that I didn’t watch my diet; I didn’t exercise; and I had no clue what my vitamin D3 levels were, even though I was aware that deficient levels of D3 are associated with breast cancer.”
Based on my recommendations, she implemented the following immediate changes:
Started supplementing with 10,000 IUs of vitamin D3 every day
Gave up ALL forms of soda, both diet and regular
Went on a grain-free diet and gave up refined sugars and flours
Began exercising
“And then I scheduled an appointment for a second opinion on the cancer treatment,” she said. “My new doctors gave me something called an OncoType Dx test, a type of DNA testx that tells you the likelihood of your cancer coming back in the next 10 years, and whether your cancer is responsive or not to chemo. That’s how I found out that, No. 1, my chances of it coming back were very low; and No. 2, that my kind of cancer doesn’t respond to chemo. When other tests showed no evidence of cancer elsewhere in my body, I declined radiation, so I had neither chemo nor radiation.”
A Natural, Nutritional Approach to Preventive Cancer Care
The cancer hospital where my employee went offers complementary care, including the services of both a nutritionist and a naturopath—a rarity among any place in health care, let alone the cancer industry.
“And I embraced them,” she said. “They told me to start exercising, and they furnished me with a wonderful anti-cancer diet that includes fresh, organic vegetables and fruits that are loaded with antioxidants. They applauded me for restricting myself on refined sugars and flours. And they also told me to GIVE UP commercial meats altogether, because of the carcinogenic ways in which they’re prepared. Basically, if the food comes in a can, box or package, I’m not supposed to eat it.
Luckily, my husband is a hunter so our freezer is already full of wild meats such as elk, deer, turkey and hog. We have a lake house, so fresh fish is always available.”
With the new diet, lifestyle changes, and exercise, the employee has lost over 25 pounds so far. She’s also taking vitamins and supplements that include a maintenance dose of 5,000 IUs a day of vitamin D3, CoQ10, vitamin C, grape seed extract, turmeric, and vitamin B12, to name a few.
“And I’m living it,” she said. “I feel better in all kinds of ways, and my lab work shows it. For example, at my last checkup, my vitamin D3 level was over 73—”a good number for cancer prevention” according to my oncologist.
“I love my new lifestyle, and my new way of eating. I’ve learned that many foods I’d never eaten before taste really good—the herb rosemary, for example, has a wonderful savory taste, and watercress and kale are full of flavor. I’ve learned how to snack too—a handful of walnuts is not only a cancer-fighter, but eaten with a glass of water, they can really fill you up. I’m never hungry, yet I’m losing weight a little at a time. And the best part is I’m cancer-free.”
As she embarked on this diet, this employee got a surprise bonus.
“I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in 2000,” she said. “But shortly after I started the grain-free, sugar-free, flour-free diet, something strange happened. I quit having aches and pains, and my fingers became unusually nimble. Then, when I went for my checkup at the rheumatologist’s, something even stranger happened: my blood work showed no evidence of RA at all! Although he said there was no way to prove it, the rheumatologist acknowledged that it was entirely possible that the diet was the mitigating factor in my recovery. So now I don’t need my prescription arthritis drug or even an over-the-counter pain medication. I can move and I’m pain-free. It’s a miracle!”
Mammography is a Total Failure for Dense-Breasted Women
Besides the importance of diet and lifestyle in cancer prevention, my employee learned a lot of other things on her cancer journey. For example, she didn’t know until recently that dense breasts have nothing to do with whether or not you’ve gained weight.
“But they have everything to do with your risk of a mammogram giving a false positive, which can lead to a slew of tests like I had, that you don’t actually need, or failing to identify a lump that is cancerous, like what happened to me,” she said xii.
Forty-nine percent of women have high breast tissue density, and mammography’s sensitivity for dense breasts is as low as 27 percent—meaning about 75 percent of dense-breasted women are at risk for a cancer being missed if they rely solely on mammography. Even with digital mammography, the sensitivity is still less than 60 percent.
The Final Diagnosis: Stay Cancer-Free with Knowledge
When my employee had her fateful 2008 experience, at least a dozen studies were already showing the association of breast density with breast cancer and the mistakes that mammography can make in both over diagnosis and misdiagnosis in dense breastsxv. She also didn’t know there was a movement afoot by other women like her xvi,xvii to force the FDA and state and federal governments to acknowledge mammography’s failures, or that thousands of women like her were either being over diagnosed and over treated, or had their cancers missed because of it.
“Now I’m the first to shout that, instead of telling you to go get your mammogram in October—Breast Cancer Awareness Month—what they should be saying is, ‘Are you aware that mammograms miss up to 75 percent of some women’s cancers?’” she says.
“There was a lot I didn’t know when this all started—but there also was a lot I did know, things that could have helped me stay cancer-free, but I wasn’t doing. I know better now, and that’s why I’m glad to share my story. The bottom line is to gather all the knowledge you can. Ask your doctor if you have dense breasts. Know your other risks for cancer, too—and do something about them! “Even more important, be aware that lots of times a whole slew of tests not only are unnecessary, but could be dangerous to your health.”
I thank my researcher for sharing her story with you, and hope it may inspire you to take control of your health; to really get PROACTIVE rather than waiting for disease to set in before you get that wakeup call. Maybe you’ll be given a second chance, like she was. Then again, maybe you won’t. Little else matters once you’re in a health crisis, so why not take the time NOW to implement a few healthy lifestyle strategies that just might help you avoid getting ill in the first place.
Remember, the greatest enemy cancer has is a well-functioning immune system.
In the event that you are diagnosed with early stage breast cancer, always get a second opinion—and possibly a third and fourth. I cannot stress this enough, as false positive rates are just too high and the diagnostic criteria is too subjective. Before you make any decision about treatment, and definitely before you decide to have surgery or chemotherapy, make sure your biopsy results have been reviewed by a breast specialist who is knowledgeable and experienced in that field. The majority of breast cancer is preventable. But if you are hit with that diagnosis, don’t lose hope! There is a great deal you can do to harness your body’s own powerful healing abilities.
iv Possible Net Harms of Breast Cancer Screening: Updated Modeling of Forrest Report, British Medical Journal, December 8, 2011: 343; d7627, James Raftery and Maria Chorozoglou
v X-ray Mammography: For Every Woman Whose Life is Prolonged 10 Women’s Lives will be Shortened, i.e. “Treated Unnecessarily”, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, October 7, 2009: 2009(4); CD001877, Peter C. Gotzsche and Margrethe Nielsen
I thought the outside world was paradise, says the only North Korean to escape from prison camp.
In a day and age where we take freedom for granted I was profoundly touched by Shin Dong-Huyk’s story. My father was a fighter pilot in the Korean War and though never a prisoner of war, he was a tremendous story teller of this escapades… The silence that surrounded that timeline left a question mark in my understanding.
Dad had several comrades that were shot down and died in prison camps. One friend of Dad’s that escaped from prison and made it home, visited us when I was a teen and shared a brief account I will never forget.
Our limited understanding of the mental an physical torture they endured in these prison camps can only be imagined with a terrifying shudder. I have a photo album of Dad’s that catalogs some of the atrocities. My stomach churns in remembrance.
As I read this I experienced a wrenching admiration for Shin Dong-Huyk. The legacy he will leave for us by sharing his story will educate us to the depths and heights the human spirit can endure….achieve…and over come.
Shin Dong-huyk is 29 years old. He loves Mexican food and going to baseball games. But any similarities between Shin and other young men ends there. Shin Dong-huyk is the only person known to have escaped from a North Korean prison camp. He was born into a life of enslavement and torture inside Camp 14, where he was starved, beaten and forced to watch the executions of his mother and brother.
He existed within the camp’s concrete walls, which had no running water or furniture, until aged 23, he escaped. He spent one month on the run before sneaking over the border into China, and eventually reaching the safety of the South Korean embassy.
Last month, a book about his life — Escape from Camp 14 — was published, taking its place at the top of the bestseller lists. I met him in London as he prepared to speak at a House of Commons meeting to raise awareness about North Korean prisoners.
Six years on from his escape, Shin — now based in Seoul — can’t describe the worst thing about life in the camps. “Every single day was the worst possible. You live every moment under the intense fear of being beaten and the guards fault every single movement,” he recalls.
Often, the key to survival was looking after number one. Blaine Harden, the author who transcribed Shin’s story, knew his mother and brother had been executed but wasn’t sure why. During conversations, Shin referred to himself as a worthless individual and a snitch. Eventually, Shin revealed the terrible truth: he was responsible.
Aged 14, Shin overheard them discussing plans to escape. Institutionalised from birth and in exchange for food and fewer beatings, he told a school teacher. He describes feeling no emotion as he watched his mother being hanged and his brother shot — he’d been brought up to believe rules must be obeyed.
Prisoners go to desperate lengths for food: eating rats or eating their own vomit to alleviate hunger. “Everything we ate was horrendous,” says Shin. “But the worst thing was corn kernels picked out of cow dung.”
His father, whose fate is unknown, became a prisoner for being the brother of two young men who fled south during the Korean war. What is known is that Kim Il Sung had his own interpretation of the power of three, stating that “enemies of class, whoever they are, their seed must be eliminated through three generations”. His mother’s name was Jang Hye Gyung. She never told her son why she was imprisoned.
Shin’s conception had been arranged by the guards. They chose his mother and father, Shin Gyung Sub, as prizes for each other in a “reward” marriage. The couple were allowed to sleep together for five nights and then Shin’s father was allowed to visit his family only a few times a year. Their eldest son, Shin He Geun, was born in 1974, Shin arrived eight years later.
Park Yong Chul was a well-travelled North Korean who’d enjoyed a life of relative luxury before arriving at Camp 14 in 2004. Shin was instructed to befriend Park — and extract a confession. Through him, Shin learned about the existence of other countries, televisions, computers but mostly, he learned about food.
Park described chicken, pork and beef, leading Shin to make his first free decision: he chose not to snitch on Park, instead hatching a plan for them to escape together. “Hearing about the food he’d eaten in the outside world was the main trigger,” recalls Shin. “I wanted to eat that kind of food — things unimaginable within the camp.”
Park was electrocuted during the escape as he squeezed through the electric fence. Shin suffered only burns, a small price after years of torture. His body bears many scars — his finger was chopped off by guards who also stuck a hook through his stomach and suspended him over a fire.
Why don’t more people escape? “People don’t know about the outside world. There’s also the systematic brainwashing — ‘I’ve been born as a criminal, I have to live as a criminal until I die and that’s my fate’.”
“When I was hospitalised in South Korea with psychiatric problems I considered suicide once or twice. But I thought about how I’d escaped and been through such difficult times, and decided I should live on.” This mental illness was due to the new-found guilt he felt over his mother and brother. “That guilt will last until my death,” he adds.
Shin’s response to the outside world shows just how institutionalised he’d become. “The most shocking moment came the day after I escaped and saw North Korean society for the first time. I thought it was paradise! People were walking around without guards. This was the moment that changed my understanding of the world.” He couldn’t believe how the impoverished North Korean villagers lived; how they moved freely without being beaten.
Shin doesn’t tell his story for himself. “It’s not therapeutic,” he admits. “I want the camps eradicated — that’s my driving force. I urge people to sign petitions and write to MPs, and keep raising the human rights issue. Holding talks and events will put pressure on the North Korean government.”
When Shin spoke at the meeting in the House of Commons it was also his first visit to our capital. “I love what I’ve seen so far — especially the House of Commons, which is one of the most stunning buildings I’ve come across.”
Campaigners like him want the world to know while other conflicts take center stage, North Korea goes about expanding its prison camps — satellite images show several have grown dramatically in recent years.
It’s estimated that up to 200,000 people are held within them, and Shin feels it’s his mission to highlight the suffering of those he left behind. “People often take an interest only once something horrible has happened, such as the Holocaust. I want the world to know what’s happening because that same thing could easily happen there. What’s the point in doing something afterwards? I see raising awareness as my responsibility.”
What are his hopes for the future? “I can’t even predict what will happen in one year’s time,” he says. “Of course I have hope that in 10 years’ time people will no longer starve to death, that they’ll be better off and that one day I’ll be able to return. But that’s wishful thinking.
Behind the wall of secrecy Escape from Camp 14. Little is known about the prison camps of North Korea where it is estimated that 200000 are imprisoned. Many are born in the camps and generations of families are.…
A Pittsburgh-area girl born without hands has won a penmanship award — and $1,000 — from a company that publishes language arts and reading textbooks.
I am so inspired by this child. What a tribute to God and her parents. I see so much whining and complaining on a daily basis that I thrill to be reminded the spirit of God planted within can accomplish all things. I am encouraged in my faith and see renewed beauty in the ordinary mundane tasks.
The biggest battle going on every day is between our own ears. We talk ourselves in and out of situations constantly. It’s up to us to put a stop to this. When that little negative voice in the back in your head demands attention and tries to get to the forefront your thinking, take a timeout.
Give yourself a quick mental pep talk, and focus on the benefits and rewards of sticking to your priorities, and remind yourself of the negative consequences of if you don’t.
Staying within boundaries requires a new level of self-discipline. This means being more conscious every day of the activities you choose to spend your time on. This is something I personally work on every day as I can walk into a room see something undone switch from the priority I started with…. become involved in this new task or… forget what I originally had on my docket. (This has happened more times than I care to admit.)
To avoid drifting away from your focus, ask yourself at regular intervals, ” Is what am doing right now helping me to achieve my goals,” this takes practice. I image the focus Annie employed, and I applaud her efforts. I hope you are energized by her story and encouraged as I was.
Zaner-Bloser Inc. recognized 7-year-old Annie Clark at Wilson Christian Academy in West Mifflin on Wednesday with its first-ever Nicholas Maxim Award.
Nicholas was a Maine fifth-grader born without hands or lower arms who entered the company’s penmanship contest last year. His work impressed judges enough that they created a new category for students with disabilities.
After the ceremony Wednesday, Clark demonstrated her ability to write by manipulating a pencil between her forearms. Asked whether she was nervous about the attention, the girl said, “Not really, but kind of.”
The girl’s parents, Tom and Mary Ellen Clark, have nine children — three biological and six adopted from China, including Annie. Annie is one of four of the adoptees who have disabilities that affect their hands or arms. The Clarks also have an adopted child, Alyssa, 18, and a biological daughter, Abbey, 21, with Down syndrome.
“Each time, we weren’t looking to adopt a special-needs child, but that is what happened,” said Mary Ellen Clark, 48, of McKeesport. “This was the family God wanted for us.”
Annie has learned to paint, draw and color. She also swims, dresses, eats meals and opens cans of soda by herself, and uses her iPod touch and computers without assistance. She hopes to someday write books about animals.
“She’s an amazing little girl,” said Tom Clark, 49, who owns an automotive dealership. “It’s a shame because society places so many rules on how people should look, but the minds of these kids are phenomenal.”
Mary Ellen Clark hopes the award encourages her daughter “that she can do anything.”
Fear of failure is the single greatest obstacle to success in life, according to Brian Tracy, who has been one of my coaches and mentors. And here’s the kicker…we experience fear many times throughout the course of the day, week, year…. And it’s not the actual fear it’s the anticipation of the fear that many times we allow to hold us back and sabotage our efforts to achieve our goals.
So here’s a question for you are you letting the fear of failure scare you into being overly cautious? If you are make a decision to stop.
Instead, take the time to figure out, define and analyze your fears. At the top of a new sheet of paper write down the question what am I afraid of? Then make a list of your fears and select the number one fear that you feel holds you back the most.
With your biggest fear in mind. Write down the answers to these three questions.
What’s holding me back in life?
How has it helped me or has it helped me in the past?
What would be your payoff for eliminating this fear altogether?
This is the key number three. When you can identify the fears that are holding you back….instead of backing away from them, move toward them. Instead of avoiding them, confront them. Eventually you’ll reach the point where your fears no longer play a role in your decision making, the wonderful thing is, if you do the thing you fear courage will override the fear and you can set big exciting, challenging goals and be confident that you can attain them.
Sad to say…I felt a bit like Barney Fife when driving in the car with my husband and our conversation turned to the Constitution…I know it I proudly declared…then stumbled…bumbled and went blank…I laughed to cover my embarrassment...and I hate it when Mr. I Know Everything one ups me…however I had to surrender to temporary defeat…and oh how I love the internet….I found this and want to share this resource with you.
It is from Rush Limbaughs Site….which is an entertaining and informative site to wander around.
This is the kind of education every American needs especially in this very important election year.
It does not matter what your party affiliation is…The fundamental information our nation was founded on is arresting.
How many of you will identify with Barney Fife….Watch this and test yourself.
The Meaning and History of the Constitution” is a 10-week online course presented by Hillsdale College.
Featuring an expanded format from the “Introduction to the Constitution” lecture series with Hillsdale College President Dr. Larry Arnn. Constitution 101 follows closely the one-semester course required of all Hillsdale College undergraduate students.
In this course, you can:
Watch lectures from the same Hillsdale faculty who teach on campus;
Study the same readings taught in the College course;
Submit questions for weekly Q&A sessions with the faculty;
Access a course study guide;
Test your knowledge through weekly quizzes; and
Upon completion of the course, receive a certificate from Hillsdale College.
Here are some blogs that have some good content on and about the Constutition
Brad Carter. is a lecturer for the Center on Freedom, whose goal is to educate people regarding the Constitution.
Most people know that the 4th of July is America’s birthday. In 1776, America declared its independence from England and set off on its own course. However, until recently, few knew that September 17th is America’s anniversary. You see, after the War for Independence was over, the Articles of Confederation were created as America’s first Constitution. But problems soon arose with the Articles. So in May of 1787, 55 men assembled in Philadelphia, at the same place where they put their sacred honor on the line by signing the Declaration of Independence, to fix the Articles of Confederation. Read More Here!
Hope you sign up and enjoy The Constitution 101.
Constitution of the United States of America page …—The U S National Archives (Flickr.com)
I had a coca-cola habit in my early teens which contributed to the extra stuffing I carried around until I was liberated in college….this takes the danger beyond excess weight into serious life threatening conditions. I’m not suggesting that that you should give up cola…I am however supplying information to educate you as it might not be vehicle to ease you into old age.
A pathologist said Natasha Harris’s Coca-Cola habit probably contributed to her death in 2010. Photograph: AP
A pathologist has said a New Zealand woman’s eight-litre-a-day Coca-Cola habit probably contributed to her death, a conclusion that led the soft-drink giant to note that even water can be deadly in excessive amounts.
Natasha Harris, 30, of Invercargill, died from a heart attack in February 2010.
Dr Dan Mornin testified at an inquest on Thursday that Harris probably suffered from hypokalemia, or low potassium, which he thinks was caused by her excessive consumption of Coke and overall poor nutrition, Fairfax Media reported.
Mornin said toxic levels of caffeine, a stimulant found in cola, also may have contributed to her death.
Harris’s partner, Chris Hodgkinson, testified that Harris drank between 8 and 10 litres of Coke every day.
“The first thing she would do in the morning was to have a drink of Coke beside her bed and the last thing she would do at night was have a drink of Coke,” Hodgkinson said. “She was addicted to Coke.”
This is also a definate concern DO NOT MIX Coke and mentos Literally explode with fire.
Hodgkinson said she ate little and smoked about 30 cigarettes a day. In the months before her death, he said, Harris had experienced blood pressure problems and lacked energy.
He said that on the morning of her death, Harris helped get her children ready for school before slumping against a wall. He called emergency services and tried mouth-to-mouth resuscitation but couldn’t revive her.
Another pathologist, Dr Martin Sage, said in a deposition that “it is certainly well demonstrated that excessive long- or short-term cola ingestion can be dramatically symptomatic, and there are strong hypothetical grounds for this becoming fatal in individual cases.”
With the evidence in the case now complete, the coroner’s office will compile and issue a final report into the death.
Lisa te Morenga, a nutritionist at the University of Otago, told the Associated Press that excessive consumption of any type of liquid in a cool climate would be likely to play havoc with the body’s natural systems and balances.
Karen Thompson, a spokeswoman for Coca-Cola Oceania, said in a statement that its products were safe.
“We concur with the information shared by the coroner’s office that the grossly excessive ingestion of any food product, including water, over a short period of time with the inadequate consumption of essential nutrients, and the failure to seek appropriate medical intervention when needed, can be dramatically symptomatic.”
A YouTube video showing teenagers jumping onto subway tracks as a train approaches is alarming subway riders and transit officials who said “they should have their heads examined.”
The video, posted Monday, shows the teens jumping onto a set of tracks at a Brooklyn subway stop. Onlookers scream at them, but the teens continue to linger even as the lights of the approaching train come into view.
Ultimately, the boys make it back on to the platform, the last one with a mere 10 seconds to spare before the train pulls in.
The person who shot the video spoke to NBC New York over the phone. He wanted to remain anonymous.
“They could have killed more people on the subway, should the train have to stop suddenly, or the people on the train could get hurt,” he said. “They’re putting everyone at risk.”
Subway riders at the station expressed disappointment and anger.
“I guess it’s a commentary on what’s happening,” said Dr. Barbara Gardner of Crown Heights. “Kids don’t have any purpose. Life means nothing, or they don’t understand why they’re on Earth. This is really sad.”
