Susan's Musings

This section of my web site is for unstructured self-expression. Sort of a blog. Your comments are appreciated. In any case, I get to vent. Essays, monographs, poems, book reviews, and comments.

Please visit my separate economics blog.

CA Senate Bill 1277 for an animal abuse registry

This bill was introduced by Dean Florez on 2-19-2010. It establishes:

1. An animal abuse registry with public access via a website funded by pet food tax.
2. "Misuse" of the registry to be punished by fine and/or imprisonment.
3. The pet food tax will be used to pay for: the DOJ's costs to create and administer the registry website; costs to collect, administer, and audit the Animal Protection Fund; local governments for spay and neuter programs. The first two items are limited to 3 percent of the revenue, meaning that local spay and neuter programs get the lion's share.
4. Local governments will not be reimbursed for their costs associated with the registry.

I see a number of problems with this bill:

1. There is no need for an animal abuse registry and website.
2. Recognizing abuse of the registry is problematic.
3. Actual costs to undertake legal actions against suspected abusers of the registry are not covered by this bill, and will be covered by local taxpayers.
4. A tax on pet food to pay for the registry and website is a terrible idea. It makes pet owners pay for animal abusers. This is completely wrong. And it makes a disincentive, in these hard financial times, to feed your pets. This is altogether the wrong message.
5. The bill is imprecise in its discussion of the pet food tax. All it says is that "the store shall collect the charge from the customer at the time of sale [and] remit the charge collected to the State Board of Equalization on a quarterly schedule." There is no definition of pet food. The definition of store is "a retail establishment that sells pet food." Is pet food bought via a website and/or from an out-of-state business taxable? Will I be taxed on the meat I buy from the butcher to feed my cats? Will people who eat canned pet food themselves be taxed? Will vets who sell pet food be required to collect and remit the tax?
6. The pet food tax puts a costly administrative burden on the stores. Who will undoubtedly have to pass it on to their customers in increased prices.
7. The State Board of Equalization is not required to publicly account for monies received and paid out of the Animal Protection Fund and for its balance.
8. There is no limit to the amount of money the DOJ can spend on the registry and website. Nor is there any public accounting of these costs.

In 2010 the State of California and all too many of its residents face economic challenges that are overwhelming. There has been talk of reducing the prison population in an effort to reduce state expenses. What real benefit to the state is a bill that increases state and local government costs, provides for the imprisonment of certain people, and penalizes responsible pet owners? This is not the right thing to do. (3-6-2010)

Response time

Many years ago I worked for a brokerage house that demanded the software applications developed in-house have sub-second response time. Is this quaint?

Now that we've adopted websites as a way to do things, including learn, when was the last time you had sub-second response time? I can't remember, it seems so long ago. Instead web pages take longer and longer to open—we could call it web bloat.

I just want to read a news article and I'm forced to wait 45 seconds or more for all the image files to open—over a DSL line no less. Those images are not really part of the article. They're ads, either for the website itself or its sponsors. Given a choice of response time or images I choose the former.

What about you? (3-3-2010)

Rationing medicine

The odd 2009 public "discussion" of health care raised the specter of rationed medicine. This eerily irrational and/or disengenuous talk, highlighted by unfounded claims, completely avoided mentioning the ways in which medicine is rationed:
(1) by ability to pay. Few doctors and hospitals will treat patients who cannot pay.
(2) by "covered " treatments named in insurance policies. Medical insurance routinely refuses to pay for treatments labeled "alternative," such as acupuncture—treatments which are truly effective (and cost-effective) and which in many cases are the best choice.
(3) by age. Doctors routinely ignore their elderly patients. They spend less time with them, order fewer tests, ignore symptoms—and write off their ill health as "age."
(4) by Medicare. Yes, some doctors do not accept Medicare patients, for the simple reason that Medicare pays so little. These doctors, and who can blame them, would rather devote themselves to patients who will pay their full fee. (2-10-2010)

Underwater mortgages

These days a home mortgage is described as "underwater" when the amount owed exceeds the value of the property. It is at this moment that a home becomes a consumer product instead of an investment. While it poses a real problem to the home owner—should I stay and pay or walk away?—there is a different side that is not so visible. For years, especially in large urban areas, home real estate prices rose so high that the only way we could justify buying them (and borrowing) was by considering the home an investment, and tight budgeting now was the price paid for a big nest egg at retirement when the home could be sold (cashed out). Indeed, in the San Francisco Bay area, the single largest investment that many middle class people make is their home.

Home buyers allowed this situation to happen by paying the high asking prices. Lenders cooperated by offering mortgages for these expensive homes. (And, as we so well recognize now, some of those mortgages were essentially unsecured.)

Can you imagine a different scenario where homes are bought at prices that can be comfortably paid in full within 5 years? Well, consider the automobile purchase. We know this is a consumer product, we do not expect it to appreciate or be something we can will to our children (as if it would last that long). We know that the value of a new car drops nearly in half within one year of purchase. So, if we borrow money to buy the car, we are "underwater" on it for some time. We don't mind that because we consider the cost of the car purchase to be an expense item in our budget.

I'd sure like to see a different housing market where at least some homes have price tags that can be paid in full within 5 years or so. But I imagine politicians will never allow this to happen, because their corporate masters would lose us as consumers, as sources of income, a completely unacceptable situation. (2-3-2010)

Women's rights vs. gay rights

How is it that women's rights, in the form of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), has been virtually abandoned and replaced in the public discourse wth gay rights? The ERA granted women—over 50% of the population—equal rights with men under the Constitution. That idea faded away in the 1970s when not enough states ratified it. Nowadays we face "gay rights," meaning social equality based on sexual preference—who we want to fuck. How did equal rights for women get supplanted by equal rights for homosexuals? Am I the only one who sees this as unbalanced? Is it a co-incidence that the people most in favor of gay rights are men? We women keep giving up our rights of entitlement to (1) heterosexual men (who want to fuck us) and now (2) homosexual men (who don't want to fuck us). Why are we still bending over for men? (2-2-2010)

Obama's 2010 State of the Union Address

I listened to Obama's State of the Union Address last night. What technology has wrought! I watched it online. Here are the comments I wrote down at the time, mostly with a sense of outrage. (1-29-2010)

Spend and save

Lately I've gotten a number of marketing pieces in the mail loudly promising SAVE—if only if I first SPEND. I am not fooled—SPEND and SAVE are contradictory, even mutually exclusive. The only way I can truly save is by not spending. How about you? (12-10-2009)

Obama's acceptance speech of the Nobel Peace Prize

All in all, an interesting speech. I hesitate to characterize it as well-written. Obama admits we are currently at war and will stay at war while providing grounds for new wars in the future. He spends a few words on the role of international institutions in the achievement and preservation of peace. He acknowledges Martin Luther King Jr. as saying "violence never brings permanent peace," then moves on to conclude "the instruments of war do have a role to play in preserving the peace." He declaims religious violence. And totally ignores economic violence. I found his speech disingenuous.
After thought: I think what Obama really said was we are the biggest baddass on the block and we'll do what we want. F__k you. Read the entire essay. (12-10-2009)

December 7, . . . 1941

For many years I have barely registered the significance of December 7th. Sometimes a radio announcement clued me in, sometimes a newspaper headline. My connection to December 7, 1941 was tenuous.

But no longer. For the past few years I have been bonding with my mother's brother, now 90 years old. He told me about his experiences in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and in that way made it very personal and close.

This December I am sorting through his papers in an effort to assume management of his affairs. Today I spent following up with his accounts. I knew the date but it was just a date, more interesting because of its proximity to my birthday. It was only tonight as I relaxed with dinner and a DVD that the 1941 event got my attention. All of a sudden it was urgent that I talk with him and acknowledge his service to America on this day 68 years ago. When I called the hospital the nurse said he was sleeping, I said I was calling because it was December 7th, and hung up. Three minutes later I called back and explained that he was in Pearl Harbor on that day, that it was a very significant date for him. Afterwards I wept because I didn't think to phone him earlier. (12-7-2009)

The limitations of scientific research

We are familiar with scientific research studies that rely on statistical analyses of data to suggest causal relationships. The point so often missed in the publication, and PR, of research findings is that only one factor in the data being analyzed can be variable at a time. This limitation is based on a "fact" taught to every college mathematics student: formulas with more than one unknown variable cannot be solved.

In the real world we know that effects have many causal factors. Gardeners are especially familiar with this truth, as the health and growth of garden plants depends on many factors, some obvious (like irrigation schedule, sunlight hours, air temperature, soil temperature, and nutrients in the soil) and some less obvious (like soil texture, pollinators, even perhaps sunspots).

Given the limitations of the analysis of research data, what degree of importance can be meaningfully granted to the findings? Is it wise to ground policies and laws on these findings? (12-7-2009)

Apologies to Captain, or how to avoid poisoning our cats

Disease in cats, as in people, is a result of poor food and environmental poisons. Our food supply is so compromised that even actions guided by the best intentions cannot avoid all the dangers. Hence this apology to Captain Courageous, my beloved Maine Coon cat. In modern America profit is more important than life. (12-5-2009)

More health—let's focus on remedying the true causes of illness

President Obama started a virtual firestorm with his commitment to health care reform and his determination that it would begin in 2009. At this moment Congress is considering a group of laws which they claim advance health care. But they have missed the point: true health care reform must start with remedying the true causes of illness. Read the essay! (12-1-2009)

Apathetic Americans

Why are people so apathetic in 2009 when they weren't in 1970? What are the causes of the "dumbing-down" of Americans? Inadequate education, inadequate nutrition, and environmental poisons. (11-22-2009)

Bicyling to school

When I was a school child I walked to grade school, it was about a mile each way. In high school I walked one-to-two blocks to a bus stop. Things have changed. Where I now live in suburban Marin County, CA, where I rarely see a school bus, parents have been driving their children to school for years. And in SUVs. One driver, one child, for the most part. Now that the price of gasoline has gone up I see children with or without parents bicyling to school. A welcome improvement to my mind. (10-26-2009)

American war crimes in Pakistan?

There is a similarity between America's war on the Taliban in Pakistan and Israel's war on Hamas in Gaza (December 2008). In both "wars" the aggressor was undeterred by civilian deaths caused by proximity to targets. Some time later the UN's Goldstone Report accused both Israel and Hamas of war crimes. Will America be similarly accused of war crimes? (10-26-2009)

Health care insurance is prone to immorality

Medical care is a humanitarian act. There is an intrinsic conflict in a health insurance company, a for-profit enterprise, paying for its customers' medical care. This business model sets profit and humanitarianism in opposition to each other. (10-23-2009)

An open letter to Prez Obama about being a help to the American people

Your election to the office of President of the USA will test—sorely—your true commitment to the people of America.
(1) You committed in your campaign to finding a cure for cancer.
(2) You committed to reforming health care.
(3) You face failure in capitalism in the form of the financial crisis, the unemployment crisis, and the home foreclosure crisis.

Hegemony may be your biggest foe.

Please don't be sidetracked by your desire for consensus in Congress and lose sight of the true needs of the American people—for good paying jobs, health, and affordable homes (not to overlook real education and families).

There are true cancer cures that have been and continue to be denigrated by the likes of the AMA. Instead, those worthies offer surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation—what I call slash and burn—which kills more surely than cancer. And pays them well.

P.S., I need a good job. I offer you my uncommon sense and open mind. (10-16-2009)

The problem with health care part 2

Recent news stories cite congressional arguments about extending health care benefits to people who don't take care of themselves. Now they're blaming the patient! As an excuse to deny coverage. (I am reminded of the saying about he who is without sin.) This is just like pre-existing conditions. Certainly how you care for yourself, the euphemistic lifestyle choices, is a factor in your health. But there are lots of other factors, many of which are unknown—by anyone.

It is simpler to say that everybody has a right to health. No exceptions.

If you get caught up in the funding issues, such as funding health care for some but not others regardless of the situation, you are on a slippery moral slope.

I say medicine for all.

Let the counties provide wellness clinics that provide information and services focused on keeping people well.

One aspect of the current "discussion" that leaves me cold is the notion of Congresspeople negotiating with each other about which medical procedures are "covered" and which are not in a "single payer" system. While I cannot see that a sex-change operation should be covered, I think this sort of judgment belongs in other hands. (10-2-2009)

The problem with health care part 1

1. "Health care" is a misnomer. What we're really talking about is the provision of medicine to patients.
2. One problem with our medical system is how providers get paid.
3. A second problem with our medical system is the nature of the medicine itself. MDs are so committed to prescription drugs and surgery that when one doesn't do this, he is castigated by his peers. Drugs and surgery have their place, but they are no panacea.
4. There are many effective remedies and treatment modalities other than drugs and surgery, but these are "not covered" by health insurance. Examples: accupuncture, manual therapy, Pilates, herbalism, aromatherapy. Not only are they effective, they are often less expensive and less apt to cause unintended consequences (aka "side effects").
5. People feel confined by their health insurance policies so that they only seek out treatments that will be covered, regardless of what would be the most appropriate and effective.
6. Most of the illnesses that cause us grief once we reach age 40 have environmental causes. This includes food, air, and water. Our nearly constant exposure to dangerous chemicals and a diet of processsed and industrial foods makes us sick, often with fatal illnesses. There is little that medicine can do to prevent or cure these illnesses. Doctors, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies can take our money, but with little-to-no benefit. The current medical system is unable to address, let alone confront, these issues. They content themselves with denying coverage.
7. A third problem with our medical system is that third parties— the health insurance companies—actively interfere in the practice of medicine. They tell doctors what they can and cannot do to treat a patient. The fact that practicing medicine without a license is illegal does not stop this behavior.
8. A fourth problem with our medical system is that doctors are being squeezed financially by the insurance companies, and a growing number are quitting, either in protest with their inability to practice the medicine they learned in school or because they do not make enough money to pay their bills.
9. A fifth problem with our medical system is that a huge number of administrators are employed, by doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies, to deal with the coverage questions, with claims, and with payments. All of these workers represent a cost that is born by patients with no real benefit.
10. The health insurance system extorts huge premiums while providing as little useful medicine as possible. How can anyone talk about a family of four spending $24,000 a year on insurance premiums? This is a farce! What family can afford this? And what do they get in return? Probably less than $5000 in actual medical care, the rest is "just in case", but the fallacy here is that they get no credit for their payment several years later when a medical crisis occurs. This is an odd insurance model. (9-29-2009)

Michael Moore's recent talk at the Commonwealth Club

I heard excerpts this morning on the radio. He is a pretty good speaker, a tolerable level of a "and"s and "um"s. He talked about the possible demise of newspapers: he thinks they may be gone in a year. While the newspapers cite the internet as the cause of their financial problems, MM said the real problem is a lack of content. Newspapers are alive and well in Europe, and they have real content. American papers succumbed to the lure of short-term profits and layed off their beat reporters, so the meatiness of the content of the stories fell. Also, in the last 17 national elections, the papers backed the Republican candidate in 14. Republicans have been determinedly cutting financial support of education. Today we have 40 million illiterates and 40 million semi-illiterates (they read at a 4th-grade level). Hence, fewer readers of newspapers. He said the papers shot themselves in the foot. (9-28-2009)

My favorite bread baker—Metropolis Baking Company in Berkeley, CA

Metropolis makes bread with durum wheat flour, the same wheat Italians use to make pasta. The bread is phenomenal! It has not been carried in the groceries I shop for some years, to my endless disappointment. I thought they went out of business. Wrong!! They just sell their bread in different shops. Where I'm off to right now. Their website is www.metropolisbaking.com. (7-15-2009)

California's budget crisis . . . again

While my focus is California, where I live, I do understand other states are having similar gaps between income and outgo. I've watched the state legislature for the past years fail to pass a budget on time. They never really passed a budget in 2008 and now it is time for the 2009 budget and the deficit grows daily. It seems to me that the current situation is one where the legislature prefers to cut services and abandon state assets that benefit the poor and middle classes over raising taxes on the wealthy. It is easy to blame this on (1) the Republicans, who have vowed to NOT raise taxes, and (2) on Proposition 13 (1978), which, in addition to limiting real estate taxes to 1% of the purchase price (which I still favor), also changed the state constitution to require a 2/3rds vote to change taxes. I doubt the Democrats would raise taxes on the wealthy—if they could. So we're still left with a legislature that has failed, year in and year out, to perform their fiscal duty. Shame on them! (7-14-2009)

The nature of programming

I recently read a news article that blythely claimed in the coming economy software development will slip off the stage and become just another ho-hum production task. I was horrified. Who was the author trying to suck up to?

In my world programming is rarely a paint-by-numbers production task. To the contrary, it is most always a research and development effort. Many job descriptions these days are for work in support of new, innovative products in a technical environment on the bleeding edge. The multiplicity of software technologies alone is enough to disprove the mechanical nature of programming. Those technologies are increasing. And the desire for product innovation is ever present. (6-11-2009)

Letter to Congress about health care (again)

Congress is closer to mandated private health insurance. What a crock! I've written about this before, but here I go again.

There are lots of misunderstandings of the current situation (virtually all of them sown deliberately by private health insurers). James K. Galbraith in The Predator State makes the point that health care is not a "market." It is instead "a label covering a class of goods and services, an enormously diverse class, adapted to the specific health condition of each individual patient. . . There is no unit of health care . . . Health care is therefore not a commodity that is bought and sold at a given price on an open market."

He continues to discuss the role of insurance and concludes "Insurance in general is therefore intrinsically a service that the public sector can competently provide at lower cost than the private sector, and from the standpoint of an entire population, selective private provision of health insurance is invariably inferior to universal public provision." (page 158)

He explains "Private health insurance companies would not exist except for their political capacity to forestall the creation of universal public systems."

If Congress is sincerely committed to both improving the quality of health enjoyed by the public and reducing the costs of health care, then it must promote a universal public health system.

I urge you to support this public health system. (6-9-2009)

Letter to Congresswoman Woolsey about health care

Dear Congresswoman Woolsey, It is simply amazing that the form of America's health care "system" is being addressed by Congress with an eye to improvement. Certainly the failures of the current system are endless and even mind-boggling. Health care delivery dominated by insurance companies is obviously a part of the problem, even the biggest part of the problem. Imposing structural changes on them will not fix the problem. Instead what is needed is a parallel public health system which patients can enter at will.

I urge you to support this public health system and to resist the predictable pressures from the insurance companies to act in their own best interests. (6-2-2009)

The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason by Sam Harris (2004)

This is a logically reasoned argument against faith. "Faith" is herein described as belief in something in the absence of evidence. (Thus faith is irrational.) It is religious faith that is addressed—and found dangerous to the future of humanity. More . . . (5-15-2009)

I type therefore I am

What is my life coming to? (5-9-2009)

Entitled or titled

Get a grip people! When you are referring to a book, you say "titled"!! As much as I am enjoying Conn Iggulden's new series of historical fiction about Genghis Kahn, I was so disappointed to find it discusssed on Wikipedia: "Iggulden's debut book was the The Gates of Rome, the first in a four-part series entitled Emperor." That would be "titled" in case you were asking. "Entitled" refers to . . . titles, like Count. (4-27-2009)

A new model of affordable housing

Lately newspeople have been saying housing prices are at their lowest in 30 years—as if that is evidence the housing "market" has returned to sanity. NOT in my neighborhood. Starter homes have dropped—from $1 million to $850K. They are still unaffordable to the majority of the middle class and much higher than they were 30 years ago.

Marin County, CA has an affordable housing community. They advocate new homes for families earning $40K or less, they ensure the homes remain affordable by limiting resale profit to cost of living increases.

I suggest an additional program that advocates new and used homes for people regardless of income who will also promise to limit their resale profit to COL. The Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) protects farmland from conversion to resorts and housing development by buying development easements. Perhaps we can copy this model with an Affordable Housing Trust. It can buy resale easements.

Homeowners who sell their resale easement should get an income tax credit from the state and federal governments, both when they sell the easement and when they sell the home. The AHT can be a non-profit group and get funds from gifts and government grants. And from their customers—the people who purchase the homes at below-market prices—who are obliged to pay them a fee at purchase time, perhaps 1–2 percent of the price. We might call this the Marin Residential Affordability Trust (MRAT). (4-27-2009)

Escape fiction

This phrase was popular years ago, and I used it myself to characterize the bulk of what I read. But no more. Which of the two words is more damning? Is "escape" an adjective or a noun? Are they independent or interlocked? I've read all my life, even, in desperation, cereal boxes. I found in fiction storytelling that, at its best, teaches. I've learned history, philosophy, and different ways of thinking about myself, my life, and my world. And been entertained in the process.

Escape is not bad. The difficulties of our lives demand intermittent relief. Fiction can be a better choice than TV, alcohol, or drugs.

The modern category that seems to have superceded "escape fiction" is "chick lit." While the old label carried whiffs of condescension and criticism, the new one is downright nasty and sexist.

I'm waiting for "dick lit." (4-19-2009)

The Sound of Music in an Antwerp train station

You have got to watch this YouTube video! (4-14-2009)

What are the ethics of pre-emptive violence?

What ethics justify violence, especially pre-emptive violence? Read the full essay. (4-9-2009)

"Health insurance" is an oxymoron

"Health insurance" is not insurance in the traditional meaning of the word. Real insurance is a "guarantee against loss by a specified contingency or peril." (Merriam-Webster) In contrast, modern health insurance covers the likes of colds—everyday illnesses—as well as critical illnesses like heart attacks, chronic illnesses like asthma, and trauma from accidents. The shocking statistics are that most people have critical and/or chronic illness.

Healthy people are the cornerstone of our society. The insurance paradigm is totally unsuitable for medical treatment of illness and trauma and proactive care, getting well and staying well should not be a source of corporate profit. Yes, doctors and nurses deserve compensation. But there is no reason to employ a middleman, especially one that adds cost but no value.

People use health insurance to cover their normal medical bills, largely because of the way in which the insurers have transformed the practice of medicine into a marketplace. As the cost of care rises and the environmental threats to our health increase, the cost of staying well increases. It should be no surprise that people want financial relief from the endlessly rising costs. What they really need is a medical system that is effective and cost efficient—one that works medically and financially.

This will only happen when governments at all levels organize medical care without the intrusion of the health insurance companies. Just bypass them, make them irrelevant. Provide the care we all need. And pay for it with taxes. Just do it! (4-7-2009)

American civilians in Afghanistan

Do you know how many American civilians are working in Afghanistan? Read on. (4-3-2009)

Cuba's Special Period

This morning's radio program proved inspirational. It was about Cuba's "Special Period" that began in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba's primary trading partner and supplier of gasoline, diesel, natural gas, etc. At that time Cuba relied heavily on its oil imports to power its industrialized agriculture and transportation systems. Their solution to the loss of oil and trade was local organic gardening and bicycles. They abandoned oil-based fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides in favor of compost, worms, and green manure. They replaced gasoline-powered tractors with oxen. They grew food in the country and in the cities, in patios and on rooftops. Local food production did not need the use of gasoline-powered distribution vehicles, instead they could deliver food throughout the cities by people on foot and bicycle. Many people moved to the country where they lived near the farms they worked. They were gradually able to produce enough food that the hunger bordering on starvation of the early days subsided; it took 3 to 5 years to restore the fertility of their soils in the aftermath of the oil-based fertilizers and herbicides which had previously dominated their agriculture. (2-10-2009)

Afghanistan and why we cannot succeed

Today's radio program discussed the reasons why America is intruding itself in the affairs of Aghanistan, a sovereign country, apparently without their invitation. The reasons and what America intends to accomplish. Well, the problems they cite for Afghanistan are the same as exist today in the USA. The solutions they plan have failed here, how can anyone realistically believe they will succeed there? It's beginning to seem as though these foreign interventions are just another American industry, this one brought to us by the military. (2-6-2009)

Microsoft joke?

How many Microsoft techs does it take to change a lightbulb? None, they just make darkness an industry standard. (1-27-2009)

The price of a home of your own

The constantly rising price of homes has impacted communities, the quality of family life, and the environment. Read the entire essay. (1-11-2009)

Wimuns lib

What was it I rebelled against as a teenager and young woman? That who I was and the work allotted to me because of my sex had no value with men and even with some women. What I wanted was to be valuable and to do work that was held valuable by the majority—men. It's not, I see now, that mothering and housekeeping are demeaning, boring, and unpleasant—rather that they have no value in the minds of men.

That was certainly the case in the 1960s. Is it different now?

Do people today think that a woman at home with her children is doing valuable, right work? How many house husbands are there? How many are not ridiculed in some way? Do women really cook for themselves or their family today? The kitchens I've seen in modern condos are only suited for heating take out food, not making lasagne or a souffle or short ribs. I myself relish a paid housekeeper, and strongly recommend it to all couples contemplating cohabitation, married or otherwise. (12-30-2008)

Spoofed New York Times

On Wednesday, November 12, a collaboration of activists and pranksters distributed a remarkably high quality spoofed copy of the New York Times along with an equally artful website, www.nytimes-se.com. The front page of the paper headlines with "Iraq War Ends." Other articles present Thomas Friedman's angst at the result of his writing and his decision to retire. I wish it weren't a spoof. This spoof, its conception by The Yes Men and its success, is described here. (11-15-2008)

What an election!

I was a young college student when President Johnson signed the desegregation law. And a few short years later a black man becomes President. Wow! (11-5-2008)

Profit at any price?

It's 10 PM PST on Election Day and it's clear that Barack Obama has won the Presidential election by more than 2:1. John McCain in his final days of campaigning characterized the differences between him and Obama as between Ronald Reagan and the "socialism" of FDR. The election results proved waving the socialism flag was not enough to deter the great majority of Americans who have personally suffered from the unregulated free-market capitalism that Reagan unleashed. Perhaps it's time for humanism, not profit at any price.

I have been especially encouraged to read and hear several people in the last few weeks say it's not enough to elect Obama, we must act daily in our own behalf—demand the government redress the wrongs and take the steps forward towards real health care, safe retirement, good jobs, solar energy, and economic independence. We must rely on ourselves, not just those we elected today. (11-4-2008)

Who's minding the store?

The current "economic" disaster happened while you and I were looking the other way. What the current situation evidences is that true freedom, honest and meaningful work, and protected assets come with a price tag: continual participation in government, active democracy. Read the full essay. (10-25-2008)

Rich con poor

The recent history of this country is one where the rich have persuaded the poor to set aside their own interests in favor of the interests of the rich. What an amazing con. (10-25-2008)

Tax undesirable behavior

Maybe we should tax behavior that endangers the commonwealth like waste production, water consumption, fossil fuel-sourced energy consumption, and pollution. (10-25-2008)

Plant medicines

The Pacific Institute of Aromatherapy started their Call for Papers for the 7th Aromatherapy Conference scheduled for February 2009 in San Francisco: "Most major health challenges in western societies no longer arise from threats posed by nature, but rather from the physiological confusion we visit on our own organisms by subjecting them to an accelerating stream of man made chemicals. Food additives, artificial flavors, pesticides, antibiotics, genetically modified crops and lifestyle drugs such as statins or serotonin reuptake inhibitors all send conflicting messages. The trust we put in these chemicals reflects our cultural conviction to dominate nature. There is only one problem. These substances are physiologically foreign to our organism and confuse our metabolic processes. The substances from the plant world are fundamentally different. They originate from the biosynthetic processes of life itself and our organisms have learnt to coexist with them through the long periods of biological evolution." (10-19-2008)

Aluminum poisoning

We are exposed to aluminum in medicines, personal care products, food, and air. It can accumulate in our bodies, especially the brain and bones, where it causes a long list of symptoms including loss of mental function. Are "CRS" (can't remember shit) and "senior moment" inevitable or the results of aluminum poisoning? This 4-page report itemizes the symptoms, sources, diagnosis, and treatments. (10-9-2008)

What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?

This question is attributed to Dr. Robert H. Schuller, an ordained minister of the Reformed Church in America whose congregation now meets in the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, CA. I find it mesmerizing. In researching this quotation, I found Dr. Schuller has a new book with an equally inspiring title: If It's Going to Be, It's Up to Me. (9-14-2008)

Afghanistan whither thou goest?

"Policy makers did not have the time, structures, or resources for a serious study of an alien culture. They justified their lack of knowledge and experience by focusing on poverty and implying that dramatic cultural differences did not exist. They acted as though villagers were interested in all the priorities of international organizations, even when those priorities were mutually contradictory." Rory Stewart wrote The Places in Between in 2004 about his walk across central Afghanistan, from Herat in the West to Kabul in the East, two years before. This quote is from the few pages where he discusses international policy making and its disconnect with the reality of the people he met. I am glad I read this book. He had previously walked across Iran, Pakistan, India, and Nepal for a combined journey of over 6000 miles. (9-14-2008)

Mass sedation

I recall reading that "religion is the opiate of the masses." Today that role seems to have been usurped by television. The dearth of critical thinking is rampant. People are ignorant of history and recent events. The so-called media continue to prove themselves irrelevant to anything but alternately sedating its audience and whipping it into mass hysteria. The combination of conditions seems to imitate life in its victims who cannot or will not tell the difference. We are deliberately manipulated by the patriotic flag and the fear card—the carrot and the stick. Our grasp on the vigilence so necessary to keep our freedom is lessening. (9-14-2008)

Animal husbandry under seige

Animal husbandry and companion animals have been with humans since the dawn of civilization. We must not let animal control laws interfere. Read the full essay. (9-14-2008)

Guiliani's speech at the 2008 Republican National Convention

When I heard his speech on the radio, I was stunned. What was he saying? It seemed like he was talking about an alternate universe, it had no connection to the world I inhabit. (9-4-2008)

License plate that tickled my fancy

2WALOME (9-1-2008)

What is civilization?

I wrote this essay on 10-2-2007 and am finally publishing it here now. (9-1-2008)

Measures of prosperity

America measures its prosperity in dollars as Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, a number based on sales figures. This unit of measure is devoid of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is stripped of the measures of individual prosperity: familial love, health, meaningful work, learning, and an environment where these measures can be maintained sustainably.

Capitalism has imposed a schizophrenia on us that has rendered us unable to even protest. When we are looking at national economic prosperity we are unable to frame our personal prosperity. Ideology trumps self-preservation. (9-1-2008)

Free?

Wendell Berry wrote: "An economically determined society is not by any stretch of the imagination a free one." That fits my experiences. (8-18-2008)

Thomas J. Longman (1935–2008)

A remarkable man. (8-17-2008)

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (2005)

A long, savory, engaging story, good to the last page. There are several historians in the novel—two searchers and one the object of the search—Dracula, Vlad the Impaler who resisted the Ottoman conquest in Wallachia (now southern Romania) in the 1400s. There are three story lines seamlessly interwoven. Vivid characters and intelligent discussions. Highly recommended. Amazon has a good summary and a satisfying interview with the author. (8-11-2008)

Real food is not an industrial product

I guess I'm not through with this thought; see the May 6th entry for more. Factory farming values quantity over quality. That value may be appropriate to some industrial products, but food is meant and needed to nourish human bodies and minds. Foods that truly nourish us, that do not introduce dangerous chemicals into our bodies, and that are raised with respect are real foods. Demand real food and read labels! If industrial meat (factory-farmed, awash in growth stimulants, antibiotics, herbicides, and pesticides, and slaughtered inhumanely) puts you off, as it should, don't abandon all meat, demand real meat. And consider that industrial vegetables are no less unhealthy than industrial meat, demand real vegetables. My essay from 12-2007 is a little different. (8-5-2008)

Religion is just an excuse to sin

Remembering sectarian violence. (7-31-2008)

The dirt about PETA and the Humane Society

If you think these organizations care about cats and dogs, it's time to do your own research. You can start with the No Kill Blog of Nathan J. Winograd. Be sure to read the essay on feral cats! Since Nathan changed his website, his earlier blogs have disappeared. There is an essay "Do Feral Cats Have a Right to Live?" elsewhere.) His essay "The Real Wayne Pacelle Legacy" about the head of the Humane Society, written 7-24-2008, can be found on the site of the San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center. (7-31-2008)

The Canadian holocaust

Did you know that the Canadian government and churches have engaged in systematic genocide (extermination) of the Canadian aboriginal peoples up to the 1990s, and it may be continuing even now? I first learned of this 12 days ago and am still agog. You can learn about it with books, several videos, and recorded radio interviews and lectures. See Hidden From History for details. (7-15-2008)

The high price of gasoline

Petroleum as a power source is obsolete—supplies are dwindling, foreign producers charge exorbitant rates, and processing is destructive to the environment. We need a source of power for buildings and vehicles that is affordable, endless, produced domestically, and non-polluting. This is a national priority and should be a national policy. Its production and distribution will become key elements in our national infrastructure. This power source should not be left to the oil companies to develop, with or without tax incentives. Instead it should be developed by a federally-funded R & D program. (7-11-2008)

Whence capitalism

I am determined to understand what capitalism is and isn't. And I have an MBA! I have miles to go before I sleep but want to quote Robert L. Heilbroner from The Nature and Logic of Capitalism: "The laws of motion of capitalism as a social formation are not solely determined by the law of the tendency of the falling rate of profit or the law of the rising organic composition of capital or the expansive but self-regulating thrust of a society of perfect liberty. Rather, they reflect the interaction of these self-generated logics with other logics, above all those of political or ideological processes, that alter the ballistical properties of the social formation itself." So capitalism is primarily a social, political, and ideological construct? More to come. (7-10-2008)

Government programs ignore bad diets

What does it say about our government that it funds expensive research projects in search of a drug to cure medical conditions known to be caused by the wrong diet? Stem cell research, the FDA's food pyramid—all wrong-minded and having no proven effectiveness without "side effects." Do we really want to eat what we want, regardless of nutrition, at any price? And the price is very high: poor health, diminished ability, pain and suffering, cost of medical care including transportation, cost of "health" insurance, water pollution caused by drugs excreted in urine, on and on with no end in sight. Our government provides no leadership when they act to reinforce this scenario by supporting processed foods, insurance companies, and drug research. Real food is the best medicine! (7-6-2008)

A sunny future

The only way we can sustainably continue to live our modern gasoline-powered lifestyle is to switch to a solar energy-powered lifestyle. Imagine . . . (6-14-2008)

Caution

Parents teach their children caution, but it doesn't stick. More. (5-27-2008)

Pixel-perfect

Pixel-perfect web designs—where the design of the page is rendered identically on every monitor by every browser—are virtually impossible to achieve and not worth the effort. Let's solve strategic, conceptual, and architectural problems and let the pixels fall where they may. Read the full essay. (5-17-2008)

Industrial chemicals make us fat?

A recent book counters the old theory about weight gain based on excessive calorie intake with one based on the body's reaction to industrial chemicals in the diet. Read the full essay. (5-10-2008)

Industrial food is a cuckoo

Industrial food is a pretender. It does not nourish our bodies, instead it brings poison. Industrial disease is the gift of industrial food. Read the full essay. (5-6-2008)

The Iraq war must stop now

This war begun in 2003 has severely damaged America and Americans. Can you spell E-N-O-U-G-H? (4-24-2008)

The violence of 9-11-2001

The 9-11-2001 destruction of the World Trade Center buildings in New York and the Pentagon in Virginia are the single largest acts of violence in American history. The report of the 9/11 Commission was unsatisfactory and unworthy of the American people. We are right in continuing to seek the truth. There is no statute of limitations on lies—they remain lies until the truth is revealed. What I believe today. (4-24-2008)

Carcinogens are not the only danger

I just got an announcement in the mail from my CA state Senator Carole Migden titled "Carcinogens in Cosmetics?". It reported that CA Senate Bill 484, signed into law in 2005, is, effective in 2008, requiring cosmetic and personal care product manufacturers to publish the names of products that contain carcinogens. "The scientific community is concerned the cumulative result of . . . exposure [to these carcinogens] is an increased likelihood of reproductive harm and cancer." Further it states that "new legistlation will soon be introduced to ban harmful chemicals which currently can be found in baby products . . ."

This seems mighty slow to me. It's past time for us to become more discerning about the dangers of industrial chemicals. Cancer and reproductive disability are not the only dangers. For example: (1) Phthalates are linked to reproductive, developmental, and respiratory problems. (2) Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are linked to reproductive and developmental problems and endocrine disruption. (3) Bisphenol A (BPA) causes problems similar to PBDEs. I expect that if we look carefully, we'll find more dangers from more chemicals. (3-15-2008)

No problem? How rude!

Whatever happened to "you're welcome"? The current mis-use of "no problem" is getting on my nerves. The older I get the more I say "thank you" for help or service. What I get back is "no problem." Do they mean they only provided the help or service because it was no problem to them, even when they were paid to do so? Do they imply that if it had been a problem, they wouln't have done it? Or perhaps they are bragging that it was easy for them. In either case—it is RUDE. (2-29-2008)

The end of pets

PETA and the ASPCA are the biggest threat to the future of purebred cats since World War II. That war killed cats and devastated breeding programs. Some breeds came within a whisker of dying out. Today a group of people who claim to be motivated by a desire to prevent cats from being killed in "shelters" seek to eradicate cats as pets. These people are inhumane. (2-18-2008)

Dodging the recession

Government non-regulation set the stage for the high risk mortgage crash-and-burn and a possible recession. Let's take the time to do it right: avoid recession while helping those at risk. Read all about it. (1-22-2008)

Business profit at the expense of worker protections

Lately there's been a lot of "news" about tainted goods from China, from cat food to children's toys. It prompts me to wonder why the protections established inside America cannot be imposed on imported goods.

American companies complain that worker's health care benefits make them uncompetitive in the global marketplace, as the cost of the benefits is added to the cost of their products.

Labor is another imported item, whether it is "offshoring" or built into imported goods. Think of all the "inexpensive" clothes made offshore and sold here with American brands on them. That practice was adopted because the cost of offshore labor is less than American labor. Why is the offshore labor less? No health benefits, no workplace protections, no minimum wage, etc.

I will not be surprised if American businesses demand that domestic worker protections be abandoned because it hurts the businesses' competitiveness abroad.

Why not extend the protections of domestic workers to foreign workers who produce goods sold in America? Just as we have our dolphin-free tuna, why not have our sweatshop-free clothes?

Leveling the playing field should not mean the lowest common denominator, but instead the highest. (12-6-2007)

A War on Knowledge?

Prez Bush admits Iran stopped its nuclear weapons program four years ago, then in almost the same breath says "Iran was dangerous, is dangerous, and will be dangerous" because it knows how to build nuclear weapons. Bush claims the basis for the danger is knowledge.

Beware Americans! If knowledge is danger, we are all at risk of being threats to national safety. If you thought the War on Terror would be endless, think of a War on Knowledge.

Clearly—isn't it?—the "knowledge is danger" theme is pure BUNK and must be laughed off the stage by everyone. Start laughing. (12-5-2007)

Monday thoughts on the economy

Thinking about our economy. Our form of capitalism defines everything as a buy-sell transaction. It's one thing to produce goods for sale, but what does it mean for prosperity to be based on the sales of services? America has increasingly turned from a producer of goods to a producer of services. When times are hard, services have no buyers. Is there a limit to the ratio of goods to services that is viable, is there a point beyond which prosperity is not sustainable? Are services an additional cost of goods? How much is too much?

For me subsistence is a touchstone, and the goods needed for living seem to be the true foundation of a viable prosperity: food, clothes, shelter, medicine, school books. Related services are also necessary: healers, teachers, journalists and writers.

Modern American economy is based on people buying things they do not need with money they do not have.

Surely this is not a recipe for a sustainable supply of goods and jobs.

Even worse these days everything is for sale, even debt. Now we have prosperity based on the ability of homeowners to pay mortgages with rising interest rates on over-priced homes. A downward spiral is in sight: if the job market shrinks, more people will default on their mortgages, leading to more layoffs. (11-19-2007)

All-news TV is really a video blog

All news TV is really a video blog—constant facts and factoids broadcast with no value. Well, that's a disservice to blogs, many of which do have value. (11-15-2007)

A little cat humor

This animated cartoon was sent to me by a distant cousin on the Isle of Jersey. Be sure to hear the audio. (11-11-2007)

The inferno: wildfire in Southern California

This photograph was taken near the home of a co-worker near Santiago Canyon, Orange County, California. Amazingly enough she was not evacuated and her home is safe. (10-29-2007)

Why cats domesticated

I've got a theory about why small wildcats domesticated: touch. Domestic cats love to be touched. And people love to touch them. More . . .. (8-26-2007)

At our house cat hair is a condiment

Spoken by Steven McKinchak as Master of Ceremonies at an awards banquet of TICA about 1997. (8-26-2007)

Sectarian violence

Sectarian violence permeates the modern world. As a child of European descent growing up in Christian America, I was taught a history punctuated with acts of Christian sectarian violence. But I did not know how long there has been Muslim sectarian violence. What I discovered was that violence, especially sectarian violence, has been at the heart of Islam since its inception in 630. More . . .. (7-21-2007)

Why can't a programmer tell the difference between Halloween and Christmas?

Because OCT31 = DEC25. (Found as a tag line on a website.)
Okay, for those non-programmers who cannot get the joke, OCT refers to an 8-based system and DEC refers to a 10-based system. In octal, 31 = 3 x 8 + 1, or 25. In decimal, 25 = 2 x 10 + 5, or 25. (7-12-2007, revised 12-10-2009)

Origin of the domesticated cat

The ongoing Cat Genome Project recently (June 29, 2007) published their initial findings on the origin of the domestic cat. They made a genetic assessment of 979 modern cats, both domestic and wild, from three continents. They found five lineages of mitochondrial DNA indicating that each wild group represents a distinct subspecies of Wildcat, Felis silvestris. This DNA research indicates that Wildcats became domesticated in the Fertile Crescent (modern day Iraq) perhaps as early as 100,000 years ago. More . . .. (6-30-2007)

Women's complaints about men

We ask our men to share the parenting and the housework so we can have the time to pursue careers as scientists, artists, academics, and CEOs. When the men fail to deliver, we are upset. We take it personally. Wrong. When men agree to share parenting and housework, what they are really saying is "I understand what you want, I care for you, I support your dreams, and I'll do this to the extent of my abilities." What we refuse to understand is that civilized man is not able to meet this contract all of the time. And he hasn't been able to for at least 8000 years. More . . .. (6-8-2007)

The Anglican Church and Protestantism

In 1852 John Mason Neale (1818–1866) delivered a lecture in Brighton, England which was published as "The Bible, and the Bible Only, The Religion of Protestants." This is a lengthy lecture and one you may appreciate as much as I. What I found the most interesting was the following points:

a. Is the English Church Protestant? No. This is the theme of the lecture.
b. What is Protestant? The only common belief is in the Resurrection of the Body; that there is One God is denied by the Universalists ("Socinians cannot be said really to hold the first Article, because if they deny God the Son, they clearly deny God the Father as Father").
c. What is the basis of these Protestant religions? Their interpretation of the Bible. "Then, I think, at last we have discovered the true and genuine principle of Protestantism. Every man has a right to interpret the Bible according to his own understanding; after giving it the best attention which his opportunities and capacity enable him to bestow."
d. Which leads to "the horns of the dilemma." "Either you must confess Roman Catholics . . . to have as good a right to their opinions as you have to yours, in which case, what dreadful bigotry, intolerance, ay, and wickedness, is your denunciation of them; or, . . . you say that all men are bound to interpret the Scripture according to your own private judgement."
e. He goes on to say "So much for the right of private judgement, which forms the positive belief of Protestants. I am not going to waste words in showing you that the Church of England openly and palpably rejects it. . . . All this, mark you, does not in the least prove that the Church of England is right in holding this opinion; that is quite a different question, and one with which we are not at all concerned now: it only proves that, as a fact, she does hold it."
f. And then he addresses the error in the title of his talk: "The whole Bible and the Bible alone does not form their religion. Not the whole Bible, because they, in point of fact, reject a good deal that is in Holy Scripture; not the Bible alone, because they hold a great deal that is not in Holy Scripture." (5-19-2007)

Vitamin K is Activator X

Dr. Weston A. Price's research into health and dental defects led to his discovery of a vitamin-like substance found in the traditional diets of the healthy peoples he studied, a substance he called "Activator X." He found that Activator X played an influential role in the utilization of minerals, protection from tooth decay, growth and development, reproduction, protection against heart disease, and the functioning of the brain. Now Chris Masterjohn in a recent article in Wise Traditions, the journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation, lays out a clear case for the equivalence of Activator X and vitamin K₂, that they are one and the same. More . . .. (5-5-2007)

A civic morality

Human society has for thousands of years adopted a personal morality—a code of behavior deemed correct and proper and by which individuals could be judged as good or bad. For American children, a personal morality might be reflected by whether Santa Claus judges them as naughty or nice. What America lacks today is a civic morality—a code of behavior of individuals as citizens, a set of obligations to their country and responsibilities for their country. A morality that is focused on their relationships with their country. More . . .. (4-7-2007)

Caifornia AB 1634

I am adamantly opposed to AB 1634, the erroneously named California Healthy Pets Act. Healthy pets are certainly better than unhealthy pets. But this bill has little to do with pet health, instead it will completely block all registered purebred cats and dogs as pets in California. Animal husbandry is central to civilization. The purebreeding of cats and dogs has been and continues to be invaluable to humans. It is absolutely ridiculous to ban the registered breeding of cats and dogs in this state and to deny such animals entry into the homes of Callifornians. PLEASE VOTE NO.

Furthermore it is not the jurisdiction of the State of California to limit pets. If you don't like that animals in shelters are killed, then find a real solution. The Best Friends pet sanctuary in Kanab, Utah is an example of a workable alternative. And you could always offer free spay/neuters! and make it easy for people to bring in their pets.

And is "pet overpopulation" a problem? Is it even a truth? Who is the State to say California can only hold so many pets? Egads! (4-7-2007)

Lunar calendar

I am enthralled by the moon which I watch every night when the sky is clear, an iffy proposition here in fog land. It was only about two years ago that I learned to tell when a moon was waxing (getting fuller) and waning (getting smaller). In case you don't yet know, a waxing moon looks like a right parentheses, ), which is to say it thickens on the right side. A waning moon looks like a left parentheses, (, because it is eroded from the right. I like to be aware of the moon's progress, but find the common method of drawing a calendar where each week is a separate line, does not fit the moon's cycle. So I drew my own: each lunar month begins on the new moon, which is the moment the moon is completely invisible. You are welcome to use my lunar calendar for 2007. (3-17-2007)

The future is all of us

For years I've read articles whose theme was that our future is in the hands of our children. I've read novels where women sacrificed their future for their children. Neither of these themes appeals to me. Everyone can contribute to the future, both to their own and to the rest of us. The only meaningful sacrifice for a parent is that needed to raise a child well. If children are so valuable to our future, what are we doing to prepare them for it? And how can we do that while acknowledging that everyone is valuable, children and parents, young and old? The future is all of us. More . . .. (2-9-2007)

Children are raised by children

Essentially, children raise children. Parents in their twenties and thirties may be legal adults, but their actual parenting efforts are primitive. They are barely out of emotional childhood themselves. In this light it is amazing that any family with children can be other than dysfunctional. Is this good? Is it inevitable? Is there another way? More . . .. (2-9-2007)

Common sense—choosing humane values

I recently read an essay by Patrick Reinsborough titled "Decolonizing The Revolutionary Imagination: Values Crisis, the Politics of Reality, and Why There's Going to Be a Common-Sense Revolution in This Generation." The essay was originally published in 2004. It jiggled a lot of ideas in me which I am noting here with some quotations. (2-4-2007)

Is skin color everything?

African blacks in America have long complained that the European whites have discriminated against them, suppressed, and repressed them. The recent influx of brown-to-black skinned people from India, especially as technology workers, is illuminating a different story. The Indians have the same colored skins as the African Negroes, their faces are different from European ones, their hair is wavy. Their voices have British accents and they comport themselves in a way to fit in with the white professionals with whom they work. They are here because they work for less—for now. They do not ask for handouts, only an open door. They are succeeding. They fit in—with black skins. Why don't many of the African-Americans? (1-26-2007)

What's in that tomato? Depends where it comes from.

Peter Bahouth, former director of Greenpeace, wrote an essay titled "The Attack of the Killer Tomato" which was first published in the Summer, 1994 Earth Island Journal, and has been reprinted a number of times since. It is available here. (1-26-2007)

Grapefruit seed extract is neither safe nor natural

The 2005 Medical Herbalism journal has an article by Todd Caldecott about grapefruit seed extract (GSE). I was interested because while I use this product, I did not know how it was prepared or what it contained. Researchers found that GSE contains, in addition to an extract of the seed of the grapefruit, one or more of methyl-p-hydroxybenzoate, triclosan, and benzethonium chloride. The antimicrobial activity attributed to GSE is due to these preservatives, not the grapefruit seed extract itself. Benzethonium chloride "is clearly stated to be a potentially harmful compound. and is not approved for internal use in the United States." "Triclosan is listed by the EPA as a 'pesticide'." While "it is approved for use in topical and oral applications, is not approved for internal use in the United States." That is in contrast to suggestions that GSE be used internally. (8-13-2006)

The Buteyko Breathing Method

The Buteyko Breathing Method was recently brought to my attention by a friend who is using it to ease asthma in her young child. The following is an excerpt from the website of Breath Dance:
"The Buteyko Breathing Method is actually a very simple set of tools and techniques used to correct chronic patterns of hyperventilation, or overbreathing. The method was developed in Russia in the 1950s by Dr. Konstantin P. Buteyko . . . He noticed that hyperventilation was one of the primary symptoms of illness . . . When hyperventilation was corrected, [there was] 100% improvement of conditions such as hypertension, angina pectoris and asthma. In 1981, after a successful clinical trial with asthmatic children, it was adopted as the treatment of choice in pediatric asthma and is still widely used to this day." (7-7-2006)

Heat by Bill Buford

I loved this book! Heat's subtitle is quite useful: An amateur's adventures as kitchen slave, line cook, pasta-maker, and apprentice to a Dante-quoting butcher in Tuscany. The chapter titles follow along. Essentially, Buford apprenticed himself first to Mario Batali at Babbo in New York, second, in Emilia Romagna, to a pasta maker named Betta in Porretta (15 miles north of Pistoia), and lastly in Tuscany to a butcher named Dario Cecchini in Panzano (20 miles south of Florence). . . . (7-3-2006)

Angelique

In the 1960s I began reading a series of paperback novels—historical fiction—about a woman named Angelique in 17th century France and America. These books were written by Serge and Anne Golon. I have saved them all this time because they were so remarkable, and recently discovered there were three more books that had been translated into English. Luckily I found them used on amazon.com and so have the complete set. I reread them every ten years or so. There are several websites that have information on the novels and their authors, among them the official website of Anne Golon The World of Angelique. (3-29-2006)

Dogs grovel, cats smirk.

Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy is a wonderful and effective practice for health and life. What is aromatherapy? The therapeutic use of essential oils—physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. . . . (1-14-2006)

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) in Maine Coon Cats

A five-page recap of HCM in the Maine Coon cat and its issues for breeders. (12-2-2005)

Western medicine

I have to rant about a MD who failed me while tooting his own horn. (12-2-2005)

Water quality

Water quality notes. These notes are taken from the book Water and Salt, The Essence of Life by Barbara Hendel and Peter Ferreira. Mature water is a liquid crystal and, as such, carries energetic information. . . . (9-19-2005)

A poem about the Colorado River

A poem about the Colorado River near Moab, Utah. (5-13-2005)

The 2000–2001 energy crisis in California

The energy crisis in California. I watched this from inside the main utility company of northern California. I eventually came to see the value of regulated utilites, and gave up my interest in the Libertarian party. (1-2-2002)

Consitutional republic and law in the USA

Are we really free? This is a question I think about these days. I've noticed that there are several kinds of freedom: economic, political, religious, social, familial. I keep wondering if the current situation was intended by our founding fathers and if it is a direct result of our Constitution. I doubt it. Clearly my high school civics class did not treat this subject with any honesty or depth. . . . (1-6-2002)

A cartoon about the Taliban and 9-11

A cartoon about the 9-11-2001 terrorist attacks that made the rounds of my office emails. (10-3-2001)

Thinking

The practice of thinking. What we need post 9-11. (5-30-2004)

Human and humanity

What is humane and humanity? What does "humane" mean? Kind? Compassionate? Ethical? (5-30-2004)

Energetic continuum

Energetic continuum. "Modern" science is based on the mechanistic, discontinuous model of Cartesianism. That model was fully discredited in the mid twentieth century, and replaced by a model of an energetic continuum. . . . (5-30-2004)

I am tired of reading African-American

Hyphenated Americans. (5-30-2004)

The death of the American Dream

I am filled with despair these days by the Shrub Administration's rabid efforts to destroy civil liberties, health, democracy, jobs, and the environment. They are relentless. My future is in jeopardy, as is that of my daughter and her children. The American Dream has become the American Myth.

What can I do? I envy my friend Paul's belief that mankind—and you know it is mostly men—will not destroy his home. I am not so sanguine, hence the despair. We must all talk and write about these threats to our future. My challenge is one of focus. I am most interested in how I can live and eat nutritious food while not hurting the environment. (10-1-2003)

Feelings in the aftermath of 9-11

This was a journal of sorts, mostly thoughts that came to me on the way to work. (12-23-2001)

Mark Twain's The War Prayer still relevant

"The War Prayer" by Mark Twain. It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, . . . (5-30-2004)

Wool bed

A wool bed: The ultimate software upgrade banishes sheep deprivation. Fleece on earth, good wool to all. At last—a bed that warrants superlatives of comfortability and health: the all-wool bed and bedding from Shepherd's Dream. (1-14-2006)

Hormone Replacement Therapy—think twice

If you have ever considered taking estrogen replacement "therapy" (or HRT), you owe it to yourself to read this abstract by the JAMA, "Risks and Benefits of Estrogen Plus Progestin in Healthy Postmenopausal Women: Principal Results From the Women's Health Initiative Randomized Controlled Trial." The full article published in 2002 is available from JAMA for a fee. (5-15-2005)