alliedservice.blogspot.com

Ayrton Senna

2011-09-03T11:14:00.031-04:00

[ "Will to win" Crash Note (8 min mark) : Turns out, racing officials had screwed Senna by giving pole-position (the most advantageous starting position), which he'd rightfully won, to his back-handed rival. ]

Eleni Gabre-Madhin & The ECX | Somalia's Struggle

2011-08-09T08:41:00.018-04:00

Wide_Angle_PBS.org/wnet_(home page) | The_Market_Maker_(program page)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Somalia's Struggle

(CharlieRose_August_4th_2011)

The_Economist:_'Somalia's_Crisis'

Phil Jackson on Zen

2011-05-25T10:11:00.091-04:00

Phil Jackson, quoted on Zen (from his 1995 book: Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior):

"What appealed to me about Zen was the emphasis on clearing the mind. As the Buddha put it in the Dhammapada, "Everything is based on mind, is led by mind, is fashioned by mind. If you speak and act with a polluted mind, suffering will follow you, as the wheels of an oxcart follow the footsteps of an ox...If you speak and act with a pure mind happiness will follow you, as a shadow clings to a form."

"The point of Zen practice [meditation etc.] is to make you aware of the thoughts that run your life, and diminish their power over you."

continued below the following 1995 charlie rose interview:

The book is briefly discussed at the beginning, and later, from the 8 min 35 sec. mark

"What pollutes the mind in the Buddhist view is our desire to get life to conform to our peculiar notion of how things should be...The thoughts themselves are not the problem; it's our desperate clinging to them and our resistance to what's actually happening that causes us so much anguish."

"There's an old Zen story that illustrates this point. Two monks were traveling together in a heavy downpour when they came across a beautiful woman in a silk kimono who was having trouble crossing a muddy intersection. "Come on" said the first monk to the woman, and he carried her in his arms to a dry spot. The second monk didn't say anything until much later. Then he couldn't contain himself anymore. "We monks don't go near females," he said. "Why did you do that?"
"I left that woman back there," he replied. "Are you still carrying her?"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ps:

(1) Turns out Phil's roots are southern Ontarian; his dad's side were loyalists & his mom's are Mennonite.

(2) The book's about 50% basketball [the bulls, Jordan, etc] and 50% autobiographical; it's interjected with folksy insight and, unlike Mr. Jackson (who's 6'7") it's short and sweet.

Foie Gras, Fish, & Master Baehr

2011-05-11T16:55:00.016-04:00

"Don't Kill Your Mavericks" | The Man Who Knew

2011-02-12T20:28:00.000-05:00

The Man Who Knew | FRONTLINE.

[Note: The online (full) version is more compelling than the t.v. edit.]

William Dement: Sleep

2010-10-19T11:01:00.013-04:00

[ Ps: Caffeine has a half-life of about 6 hrs. ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Preferential Voting [For Your Consideration]

2010-06-20T11:17:00.119-04:00

In Preferential Voting the most widely supported candidate wins (every time, regardless of party affiliation); There's no vote splitting, no votes are needlessly wasted and (best of all) strong independent candidates can go for the win (without worrying about spoiling the results). [Hence, very, very, few elected representatives (of any party, anywhere) are whole-heartedly in favour].

Also, unlike proportional representation, the autonomy of individual MPs isn't weakened vis-a-vis bureaucratic party politics.

How It Works**: Voters aren't limited to just one candidate but, instead, can rank any of the candidates they like, in the order they like. The winner is determined by whittling down the field; dropping the least competitive candidate from the ballot, and redistributing those ballots (votes) to each voter's next favourite candidate. The process is repeated, dropping one candidate at a time, until the favourite of the electorate has been found. [Contrary to popular belief, computerized voting is not necessary; just good riding-wide logistics.]

**In some permutations voters are forced to rank every candidate on the ballot. (This "ensures a majority of support"; i.e. imitates a run-off election (exactly) on a single ballot.) I favour the simpler (freer) option.

[ Ps: It helps underdogs like Abraham Lincoln beat a wide field of chatter-box "favourites".]

------------------------------------------------------

British Kick at the Cat "AV" Ad:

[ Note: To my eye the British ad looks like something David Cameron coerced out of M.I.5's propaganda division...("Casual Cat" upsetting a dignified British Bulldog?... and "Reform Cat" shooting lasers at parliament?...Surprised the managed 36%... ]

Tribal Leadership and Valuable Visions

2010-05-10T19:59:00.026-04:00

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies; those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world." - John Milton
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mercury, Dentistry, Thimerosal, and Disease

2010-02-14T00:21:00.266-05:00

'Mercury Rising' (an 18 minute film from the producers of 'The Cove' and the Oceanic Preservation Society)

Dr. Boyd Haley (2003) [ interviewed by F.A.I.R. here, and at IAOMT (2010) here ]

'Poison in the Mouth' - Panorama - BBC (1994)

Dr. Mark Geier (interviewed by FAIR) | also with his son, David Geier here and, at the UN here

Dan Olmsted & Mark Blaxill discuss the 'The Age of Autism: Mercury, Medicine, and a Man-Made Epidemic' [ link above is for AgeOfAutism.com ]

Dr. David Ayoub (2006) | (Dr Ayoub goes a little overboard but, he's good in a street fight)

Footnotes:

(1) For a great profile of natural heavy metal detox see Dr.Jaffe (here)

(2) Coal fired power plants are the largest source of mercury pollution (estimated at 33% of total US levels). [Green Peace: Facts about Coal Fired Power Plants]

(3) The average compact fluorescent bulb contains between 2000 and 4000 micrograms of mercury vapour. (The current OSHA mercury vapour guidelines set a maximum exposure limit of 100 micrograms per cubic meter of air; levels as low as 20micrograms/cubic meter have been proven to inflict significant damage - in adults - on long term exposure.)

(4) The current Canadian legal limit for mercury in paint is 10,000 micrograms/kg of dried "recycled product". (Conveniently, after the voluntary regulations set higher targets for "recycled products", in 1991, nearly all paints on the Canadian market began to be considered, by their manufacturers, to be "recycled products".) There's no regulation of wet product or off-gassing, and no mandatory testing. 'Recycled products' sold through 2007 (made in 2005) allowed 65,000 micrograms/kg (for interior 'recycled' paints; and there seams to be a lot of ambiguity on the precise facts about exterior products - a particular concern for yours-toxic-truly). Before 1991 there were no Canadian regulations to speak of... Also, the last time I came across it (in 2003) stand-alone mercury-based fungicidal paint additive was cheap, odourless, easy to get (up from the States), and widely regarded (amongst paint geeks and industry experts) as the end-all be-all of antimicrobials (i.e it was frequently added on-site, in significant amounts, to bathroom, basement and even kitchen paints, for long-term mold, mildew & bacteria prevention).

Cancer Immunology & Reversal | Physician, Heal Thyself

2009-12-07T09:56:00.830-05:00

[Preface: Having seen plenty of cancer, a couple of "miraculous" recoveries (first hand), and been thoroughly disappointed with the state of conventional oncology (as of 2010), I needed to get it all off my chest - luckily, I also happened to have a blog (this blog) in need of content. This post (which has evolved over the years) is the modest result.]

In light of our current understanding of immunology, nutrition, and the environmental causes of most cancers, it's high-time for an oncological sea-change:

More attention paid to root causes, environmental toxins, and the kitchen table (vis-a-vis genetic expression and disease pathology); Less self-fulfilling pessimistic prognostication; Less (slavish) dependence on pharmacological easy answers; And more respect for the individuality (and supremacy) of every patient.

“The immune system can respond to cancer cells in two ways: by reacting against tumor-specific antigens (molecules that are unique to cancer cells) or against tumor-associated antigens (molecules that are expressed differently by cancer cells and normal cells). ”

“A recent study examined 905 recipients of transplanted hearts, lungs, or both between 1989 and 2004 for the effect that immunosuppression, used for preventing graft rejection, had on the incidence of cancer. A total of 102 newly diagnosed cancers were detected in these patients, which is 7.1 times as many as in the general population. The predominant types were leukemias and lymphomas (26.2 times as many as in the general population), head and neck cancer (21 times as many) and lung cancer (9.3 times as many). ”

“If properly activated by immunostimulatory tumor products or other factors in the tumor microenvironment, the dendritic cells induce effective tumor-specific CD4 and CD8 T cells.”

“A recent study of three multicenter cohorts of 603 patients with colon cancer showed that the presence or absence of T cells in the resected tumor predicted the clinical outcome more accurately than tumor stage and nodal status, the current gold standards...Similar observations have been made in tumor specimens from patients with cervical cancer, breast cancer, urothelial carcinoma, and follicular lymphoma, as well as in lymph nodes draining the tumor site.”

- Cancer Immunology, O.J.Finn; The New England Journal of Medicine, 2008.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Kostoglotov [said], "All I'm saying is that we shouldn't behave like rabbits and put our complete trust in doctors. For instance, I'm reading this book." He picked up a large, open book from the windowsill. "Abrikov and Stryukov, Pathological Anatomy, medical school textbook. It says here that the link between the development of tumours and the central nervous system has so far been very little studied. And this link is an amazing thing! It's written here in so many words." He found the place. "It happens rarely, but there are many cases of self induced healing.' You see how it's worded? Not recovery through treatment, but, actual healing, See?"

There was a stir throughout the ward. It was as though "self induced healing" had fluttered out of the great open book like a rainbow-coloured butterfly for everyone to see, and they all held up their foreheads and cheeks for its healing touch as it flew past.
"Self-induced," said Kostoglotov, laying aside his book. He waved his hands, fingers splayed..."That means that suddenly for some unexplained reason the tumor starts off in the opposite direction! It gets smaller, resolves and finally disappears! See?"
They were all silent, gaping at the fairy tale. That a tumor, one's own tumor, the destructive tumor which had mangled one's whole life, should suddenly drain away, dry up and die by itself?”

- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's 'Cancer Ward'

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NIH: Office of Dietary Supplements || Google Scholar || PubMed
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Warburg Revisited (anaerobic / ph metastasis): Cancer cells feed by fermentation (rather than respiration) and the process is acidifying to the surrounding tissue. Acidification makes fermentation more efficient, respiration less so, and thereby reinforces the ability of the tumour to feed (while taxing the bodies alkalinity)... 60 years ago Otto Warburg demonstrated this (feeding by fermentation) is not at all unique to cancer cells, it's a survival mechanism which most normal cells can invoke, as needed, when deprived of oxygen or, when the mitochondria begin to falter. (Hence his controversial claim that he had "discovered the cause of cancer".) In any event, when this mechanism is invoked the mitochondria (the normal "power plants" and inter-cellular communications hubs of the cell) are circumvented (laid waste)... Since Warburg's death (more than 40 years ago) the science of 'apoptosis' has flourished. (Apoptosis is our bodies method of regulating the cellular life cycle, initiating "cellular suicide" and cannibalizing redundant or damaged cells, as needed.) And it turns out that the mitochondria are crucial, or essential, to apoptosis. Without apoptosis it's every cell for itself; i.e. the genesis (or metastasis) of cancer.

[See: Addendum 2: Dr Jaffe below]

[ Ph / Alkaline Food Chart | Wikipedia/Antioxidants | Wikipedia/Cardio ]

Addendum 1: Hubris (Tim Hartford and the 'god complex')

Tim Harford champions trial and error over 'the god complex' (hubris).

(note: Overcoming mistakes need not be as difficult as Mr. Harford's gloomy anecdotal conclusion would suggest. (Courage, humility & wisdom are all catalysts for joy, where as hubris - a preoccupation with vanity - is one of the more reliable harbingers of hard times ahead.)

Addendum 2: Good Science (Dr Jaffe on inflammation repair deficits)

Addendum 3: Hope (Dr. Bernie Siegel on mind-body healing)

Dr. Bernie Siegel excerpt from 'Fight For Your Life' (1987 ; 120 min). Bernie (an ex-surgeon) is the author of the best selling book: 'Love, Medicine & Miracles: Lessons Learned About Self-Healing from a Surgeon's Experience with Exceptional Patients'.

[ My personal favourite excerpt from Dr. Siegel's (unusual) book:

“ God has given us free will to make love and life meaningful. This creates a critical risk because we now have the ability to destroy our universe if we choose not to love.

However, it is only in this critical time that the archetype of the miracle can appear. When one believes in love and miracles divine intervention can occur.

We have an infinite number of choices ahead, but a finite number of endings. They are destruction and death or, love and healing. If we choose the path of love, we save ourselves and our universe.

Let us choose love and life.” ]