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SBA: News RELEASE

SBA Launches New Online Training Course: Winning Federal Contracts – A Guide for Women Entrepreneurs

WASHINGTON ─ Women who own small businesses will be able to use a new online U.S. Small Business Administration training course to learn how to identify and take advantage of federal contracting opportunities.  The new training course, Winning Federal Contracts: A Guide for Women Entrepreneurs, is part of an ongoing government-wide initiative to promote opportunities for women-owned businesses in the area of government contracting. 
This free online tutorial is a practical and easy to use guide that walks a woman-owned small business through the contracting process.  SBA is committed to ensuring that women-owned businesses receive at least 5 percent of federal contracts and believes better training opportunities are central to meeting this government-wide goal. 
“Federal contracts can provide unique opportunities for women entrepreneurs and small business owners to grow their businesses and create jobs, particularly during these tough economic times,” Administrator Karen Mills said.  “It’s also a win for federal agencies, by contracting with women-owned small businesses; they are working with some of the most innovative and dynamic companies in the country.”
The SBA’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership oversees a national network of more than 100 Women’s Business Centers (WBCs) that provide education and training to help women start and grow small businesses.  In addition, the SBA has 68 district offices and other resource partners throughout the country available to train and counsel women-owned small businesses and entrepreneurs seeking government contracts.
“This online training course makes critical information and training available to an even wider array of women entrepreneurs and small business owners,” said Ana Harvey, assistant administrator for SBA’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership.  “SBA wants to help ensure they have the tools and resources they need to compete for and win federal contracts.”
The Winning Federal Contracts course is designed to help women entrepreneurs learn about the federal procurement process and to prepare them to compete for contracting opportunities.  The self-paced guide uses audio and script to provide information about contract rules, how to sell to the government and where to find contracts.
The Winning Federal Contracts course is available on SBA’s Web site at www.sba.gov or directly at www.sba.gov/fedcontractingtraining.  It is indexed by subject matter, and includes direct links to additional contracting resources.

Sneezing 101

Bless You All !

 

Agora: a Movie Recommendation

Cindy Wilson/Oly of Temple of Hekate's Torch would like to recommend the movie Agora  from famous film director Alejandro Amenabar and recently released in Europe.  Cindy writes:

”The Spanish movie 'Agora' is released this week.  There isn't an American company as yet to sponsor it in the US.  I hope one will soon.  I would very much like to see this history-based movie.”

The movie recounts the story of Hypatia, the last great philosopher and mathematician of the Hellenistic Age, who was brutally assassinated by a fanatic Christian mob in 415 a.D.

Agora was a public place of assembly in ancient Greek city-states. Read more>

Hypatia of Alexandria (350 and 370 – 415) was a Greek scholar from Alexandria in Egypt considered the first notable woman in mathematics, who also taught philosophy and astronomy… Read more>

“Unfortunately,” continues Cindy, “ the nay Sayers  are already out in force:   Civil Groups Protest

The comments seem to fear this movie as an attack upon their religious institution. 

I have a different attitude...history should not be silenced simply to keep ignorance intact.  The movie as I understand it is not an attack on any particular religious organization, but rather the mob mentality which used religion as the excuse and right to murder and destroy. Surely that message is worthy of repeating again so we can learn and not suffer through it again - regardless of religious preference.

Spread the word...let's see the movie Agora.”

Thank you Cindy, for sending this recommendation. I find Amenabar’s choice of a heroine, of the film cultural context, and of religion as the catalyst of the end of an era most interesting and a-propos.

Nadette

 

 

Time-Honored and Skilled Sweat Lodges at HMHC

Sweat Lodge participants are expressing concern, following an ill-fated Sweat Lodge incident in Arizona. Shirley, a HMHC Reader, sent the following message to our mailbox:

“Just wanted to let you know about this concerning sweat lodges.  Two deaths at a sweat lodge in Sedona Arizona at Angel Valley.  We have been to this place. James Arthur Ray was holding a retreat there. We have met the owners Amayra and Michael. Just want y'all to be careful inviting people to a sweat lodge 'right now' and take proper precautions. Please read: “

Author hires investigators to review sweat lodge deaths

Early yesterday, Memo Licona, Pourer and Singer/Sweat Lodge at HMHC, had already sent out the following message to Sweat Lodge attendees:

“Some of you have asked, and been concerned about our sweat lodge practices and here is how my Sundance chief responded, I hope it helps. “

Chief Michael Hull writes:

I have been asked about this question and so I will respond as well as I am able. 
Our ceremonies are traditional. We who lead them have been taught and trained to lead them in that manner and we do so. We lead them under the guidance of the Spirit hearing and following that guidance as well or as poorly as we are able. Our lodges follow the traditional teaching about size and shape and components. Participation and how the ceremonies are done are all traditional. 
 
In my lodges no one must come in and you are welcome to leave, and if that changes for a particular lodge for a particular reason, then you are told in advance. We don't charge for our ceremonies. 
 
I don't know anything about what happened in AZ. Based on news reports it would appear that the leadership did not have the training we have, did not use the structure we use, and used a different set up in terms of what happened inside. 
 
A lodge is a place of healing and purification, not a place to be macho or tough. 
 
With all that said however, please also remember that I was taught that a lodge, a vision quest and other ceremonies are ceremonies of health and healing, of life, death and rebirth, of prayer and purification. Events like the one reported in the news, whatever happened there, serve as reminders that what we do is not a game, is not an "experience", is not a workshop or a time to trot out to the country and play Indian. 
 
Ceremonial time is a profound encounter with the Divine, at a very basic and core level, a time that continues as a way of life for a people. It can be an encounter with life and death and rebirth for people and absent a willingness to chance that encounter one should not enter into the ceremony. 
 
When you hear our Lakota friends complain about the wannabe white "Indians" you will understand that the kind of thing that the news makes AZ out to be is a prime reason for the wannabe complaints. Our Lakota friends who have been living in the ceremonial way for eons will now have to use part of their time explaining why what they do is not what was done there. For as long as the people remember people have gone to lodges to pray, without publicity or fanfare, but the event that people will remember for a very long time, an occurrence that is not really a lodge, will be an event labeled by the media as a "sweat lodge". AZ will become the image for many of what we do. When we understand that, then we can remember that our responsibility to those who came before us and shared this way of life with us includes the responsibility to represent the ceremonies responsibly. 
 
Mike
gracesanctuary@yahoogroups.com

Thank you Memo, for taking the responsibility to ease concerns about Sweat Lodges.

Thank you Chief Hull, for taking the time to recount the true meaning of a Sweat Lodge Ceremony.

 

A Click and a Minute for Peace

 

Nancy Bankston and the HMHC Team are inviting all readers and families to consider participating in the A Million Minutes for Peace, on the United Nations International Day of Peace

 September 21, 2009.

It means you click once, right now to pledge your minute, and you pray, meditate or reflect a minute on September 21, 2009 at Noon.

Odyssey Networks is “the nation's largest coalition of Jewish, Christian and Muslim faith groups dedicated to media production, and distribution of media. Odyssey’s membership includes over 40 faith groups and organizations and comprises more than 200,000 congregations with 120 million congregants.” ( Mission Statement)

Visit Odyssey Networks to get acquainted with their mission and work, and opportunities to find bloggers, discussion groups, and young advocates for Peace Movement , films, etc.

To pledge click here on Pledge to Pray for Peace.

Still undecided ? Watch below:

“By working together, there will be peace one day” JEREMY GILLEY

Jeremy Gilley is an actor turned film maker, who in the late 1990's became preoccupied with questions about the fundamental nature of humanity and the issue of peace. He decided to explore these through the medium of film, and specifically, to create a documentary following his campaign to establish a day of ceasefire and non-violence.
In 1999, Jeremy founded Peace One Day, a non-profit organisation, and in 2001 Peace One Day's efforts were rewarded when the United Nations unanimously adopted the first-ever day of global ceasefire and non-violence on 21 September annually - Peace Day.
In 2007 according to the UN, over 100 million people were active on Peace Day, in 192 countries. There were life-saving initiatives in 14 countries, and over 80 activities in Afghanistan alone where 1.4 million children were vaccinated against polio. (YouTube.)

 

Nursing Community Response on Health Care Reform

The American Nurses Association has been advocating for 20 years for health care reforms that would guarantee access to high-quality health care for all.  Now, rising healthcare costs, increasing numbers of uninsured and underinsured individuals, and disparities in healthcare access and quality have created an emerging national consensus that the health care system is broken and must be fixed now. Any solution must involve ensuring that the supply of nurses is adequate to make universal access to care a reality. 

ANA is proudly representing the nursing profession at health care summits and forums, and working with nurses, lawmakers, the Obama Administration, health care coalitions, the media and other participants to deliver nursing's message, develop solutions and take action. (ANA on Health Care Reform)

“I found this information from ANA (American Nurses Association) to be most helpful during these confusing times and I want to share them with our readers. You might just find some answers to some of your questions. Please read on:”

Click to view     ANA Healthcare reform legislation

Click to view    FAQ_ANA Responses on HCR_FINAL080709

 

 

What Barbara is Up To

… these days;  rumors of her retiring can now quietly go away; Barbara is up and about as ever!

Barbara Mader, RN, CHTP, Reiki Master, has been a registered nurse for 56 years, has been active in energy medicine for 23 years. She is the owner/operator of High Mesa Healing Center in Alto, New Mexico, where she specializes in Healing Touch and a wide variety of energy work. Barbara has recently returned from China where she was a member of the Nursing Delegation of the Nightingale Initiative for Global Health, working in conjunction with People to People Citizen Ambassador Program, to continue the tradition of professional diplomacy that began in 1956.

She also lectures, writes, and conducts workshops in a range of applications which include Capacitar, Intro to Healing Touch, Labyrinth, Integrated Health Care, Spirituality in Healthcare, and others subjects.

 

2012

A lot is written, said and prophesized about 2012. As always, the truth lies within.

Peter S. is a long time friend of HMHC and always sends thanks after receiving High Mesa Happenings, the HMHC newsletter.

 Thank you! Peter.

Recently, Peter also sent an invitation to watch a video called Illusion of Reality (1) because “it’s fascinating and [he] thought you would enjoy it. [He] knows many of you know of this already but for those who might be questioning certain things, this might help.”

There is a follow-up video, Illusion of Reality (2) which is included here as well.

Thank you Peter for sending this along and thank you for being a faithful friend!

Illusion of Reality (1)

 

Illusion of Reality (2)

 

Posted by NWH

Barbara's Call to Listen

An invitation from Barbara:

" I've signed this petition myself, for if Europe adopts greater energy efficiency standards, the move could spill over in our direction -a plus for Earth and for us all.  Would you listen to 'Coldy' and consider adding your name? I've had experience with Avaaz.org and am confident they're legit."

Thank you. Barbara

Click Sign the Petition to do so and advise friends and family.

Posted by NWH

Sweet Poison: an On-going Debate

If you’re consuming products labeled 'SUGAR FREE' and the label includes ASPARTAME or one of its other names (NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc,) do know what is happening in your body when you open that soda can or chew on that candy bar: when the temperature exceeds 86 degrees F, the wood alcohol in ASPARTAME converts to formaldehyde and then to formic acid, which in turn causes metabolic acidosis. Formic acid is the poison found in the sting of fire ants. And you might vaguely remember from your Anatomy class that formaldehyde is what you used to preserve the frog you were required to dissect.   

Aspartic acid is a non-essential amino acid, which means that a well functioning body produces precisely the quantity needed. Problems arise when there is an excess or a lack of. Nothing new here.

The good news is that when L-aspartate (another name for Aspartic acid) is proportionally combined with other amino acids (as the body is designed to do)  a good balance remains and toxicity is flushed out. The bad news is that many manufactured products around us contain the chemical and expose the body to an excess of it. When Aspartic acid is constantly ingested or absorbed through skin or lungs (construction materials are often treated with formaldehyde) in great quantities, the overloaded body can’t keep up with the flushing. Dis-ease first, then sickness kick in.

Aspartic acid is a neurotoxin that interacts with the neurons of the brain. Sometimes, it is prescribed as a metabolic booster. However, overdose of aspartic acid latently can cause seizures, depression, panic attacks, uncontrollable anger and rage, and in the long range engenders brain damage. ASPARTAME toxicity mimics conditions such as multiple sclerosis, systemic lupus, or fibromyalgia, and can induce spasms, numbness, headaches, unexplained depression, to name only a few.   

Children are especially vulnerable to the poisoning of Aspartame; do not allow artificial sweeteners in their diet. I’m sure you have heard of the rising numbers of children affected with neurological disorders like ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder,) or about young children in constant rage whose parents are at wits end. Even television shows capture the life of uncontrollable children. (Well, why such improper voyeurism is another debate.)

Could consumption of artificial sweeteners explain conditions described above? The debate about using ASPARTAME has been in the open for quite some time now. It went to Congress and is still stalling there. An elaboration of a protective Bill of Law  became a quick kill.  Well-known Medical Associations restricted their voicing to protect funding .

Now what to do then? I, as the public, can educate myself in digging a little deeper into the facts above; I can read labels; I can share my findings and warn family and friends; I can seek advice. I CAN CHOSE WHAT I PUT INTO MY MOUTH.

At this time, there is a new alert on sugarless gum. Not an alert for people, yet. It’s about a small dog who nosed around in a purse, grabbed a sugarless gum and got violently sick. Had the emergency vet clinic not known or recognized that Xylitol, contained in the gum, causes liver failure, the little fellow would have gone to his wings. This happened to a small dog. I don’t know what has or would happen to a bigger sized dog. What I want to know for sure is that sugarless gum contains a potential deadly ingredient. I do wonder if in the long term, studies will indicate that the body is not able to process it after all. I did come across a website that sells Xylitol to people as “a good sweetener”, and found at the bottom of the webpage a warning about giving it to dogs, and a precautionary measure to people with diabetes. Mmm…

The body is well designed at the start. Some of us, alas, have inherited dis-ease or sickness. So supplements and treatments are a must. What we all have inherited is contaminated food. How can we help that?  Watching our mouth, that’s how. Literally.

Posted by NWH