Back in Georgia, they're still trying to figure out what caused so many of their banks to collapse when the real estate bubble burst. This is an interesting take on the situation. Such mature examinations are far more valuable than the "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac" narrative so many right-of-center types have parroted since 2007.
It also may answer some of the questions jerztronics was asking on this blog back in March.
.
Cultural Economy
I commented at Cliff's Crib that, if more people truly understood what their tax dollars paid for, our national conversation about government would be completely different.
Instead, the national conversation is awash in complete misconceptions, falsehoods, and made-up theoreticals. One of those is that "the government does not/should not provide funding for the arts." This one has been around for a while, and is a narrative often trotted out as an anecdotal example of pervasive government waste and the largeness of government size. The perception is that government pays artists to create pretty pictures or songs, and that the money never goes anywhere else. People who buy into that narrative seem to think this government money is there simply to subsidize the bohemian lifestyles of liberal, artsy types.
The truth is, arts and culture have tremendous economic impact all over the United States, and any honest discussion of the validity of government funding should take that economic impact into account.
Because if it is worth $400 million to the state of Georgia to land a KIA assembly plant, it may be worth it to the state to fund the arts and culture as well. It all depends on the return on investment per government dollar spent, and the taxpayers deserve to hear the truth about the economic impact of their tax dollars. Unfortunately, all they're getting right now are narratives and platitudes, as return on investment isn't a part of the "Big Government Waste" conversation we so often hear.
(HT: Jeffrey)
.
Instead, the national conversation is awash in complete misconceptions, falsehoods, and made-up theoreticals. One of those is that "the government does not/should not provide funding for the arts." This one has been around for a while, and is a narrative often trotted out as an anecdotal example of pervasive government waste and the largeness of government size. The perception is that government pays artists to create pretty pictures or songs, and that the money never goes anywhere else. People who buy into that narrative seem to think this government money is there simply to subsidize the bohemian lifestyles of liberal, artsy types.
The truth is, arts and culture have tremendous economic impact all over the United States, and any honest discussion of the validity of government funding should take that economic impact into account.
Because if it is worth $400 million to the state of Georgia to land a KIA assembly plant, it may be worth it to the state to fund the arts and culture as well. It all depends on the return on investment per government dollar spent, and the taxpayers deserve to hear the truth about the economic impact of their tax dollars. Unfortunately, all they're getting right now are narratives and platitudes, as return on investment isn't a part of the "Big Government Waste" conversation we so often hear.
(HT: Jeffrey)
.
Amateur
Georgia Public Service Commissioner Tom Echols needs to step up his game if he wants to join former Alaska governor Sarah Palin & former New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin's Chocolate Moose Party.
.
.
Convicting the Victim
(HT: Alli)
At least there was enough intelligence from the bench to allow a retrial in this case: a mother convicted of vehicular homicide because someone else ran down and killed her 4 year old with their car.
People looking at this case will say "but, Pat, she was jaywalking with her 4 year old." I guess that's the conclusion you'd reach if you only read the AJC, the Wall Street Journal, or watched CNN. There's more to this story, and yes, city planning is just as culpable if not moreso.
This is what people are talking about when they say roads are not safe for pedestrians.
She was jaywalking. Correct. And, Lord knows, I ain't no fan of jaywalking moms with kids on busy roads. But I "jaywalked" every time I went to a friend's house growing up on St. Simons Island, because their house was on the other side of the road from the bike path. I grew up in a small town, but people still got hit crossing Frederica Road, to be sure. Two lanes are easier to cross than 5, after all, but when resurfacing came through Island City, they installed a half dozen new pedestrian crossings. Why would they do that? Why would a place like Glynn County consider pedestrian crossings important enough to spend money on them?
The answer is simple: St. Simons prioritizes pedestrian and bicycle safety as part of its design as a tourist destination. Cobb County prioritizes cars to move people quickly from one exurb to the next. Such decisions have real world, sometimes life-and-death consequences.
She was jaywalking because she was traveling by foot in a car dominated area.
That's because her bus stop lets her out on the other side of Austell Road from her apartment complex, where the closest crosswalk is 3/10ths of a mile away. That's more than half a mile round trip, on foot, with three kids carrying full shopping bags, at night, after already waiting an hour for the bus. Not everybody owns a car. Not everybody can park that car in a garage or a driveway and watch the kids pile out into the house.
Half a mile in the dark with kids next to a busy highway or cross five lanes (75 feet?) of highway? What's your choice, tired mother of three? There aren't any good ones available.
And that's before you add in the driver, allegedly inebriated because in a car-centric world, the bars are located in "commercially zoned" areas and linked to "residential areas" by roads with no pedestrian or bicycle infrastructure.
.
At least there was enough intelligence from the bench to allow a retrial in this case: a mother convicted of vehicular homicide because someone else ran down and killed her 4 year old with their car.
People looking at this case will say "but, Pat, she was jaywalking with her 4 year old." I guess that's the conclusion you'd reach if you only read the AJC, the Wall Street Journal, or watched CNN. There's more to this story, and yes, city planning is just as culpable if not moreso.
This is what people are talking about when they say roads are not safe for pedestrians.
She was jaywalking. Correct. And, Lord knows, I ain't no fan of jaywalking moms with kids on busy roads. But I "jaywalked" every time I went to a friend's house growing up on St. Simons Island, because their house was on the other side of the road from the bike path. I grew up in a small town, but people still got hit crossing Frederica Road, to be sure. Two lanes are easier to cross than 5, after all, but when resurfacing came through Island City, they installed a half dozen new pedestrian crossings. Why would they do that? Why would a place like Glynn County consider pedestrian crossings important enough to spend money on them?
The answer is simple: St. Simons prioritizes pedestrian and bicycle safety as part of its design as a tourist destination. Cobb County prioritizes cars to move people quickly from one exurb to the next. Such decisions have real world, sometimes life-and-death consequences.
She was jaywalking because she was traveling by foot in a car dominated area.
That's because her bus stop lets her out on the other side of Austell Road from her apartment complex, where the closest crosswalk is 3/10ths of a mile away. That's more than half a mile round trip, on foot, with three kids carrying full shopping bags, at night, after already waiting an hour for the bus. Not everybody owns a car. Not everybody can park that car in a garage or a driveway and watch the kids pile out into the house.
Half a mile in the dark with kids next to a busy highway or cross five lanes (75 feet?) of highway? What's your choice, tired mother of three? There aren't any good ones available.
And that's before you add in the driver, allegedly inebriated because in a car-centric world, the bars are located in "commercially zoned" areas and linked to "residential areas" by roads with no pedestrian or bicycle infrastructure.
.
Religion of Peace
Where does cultural justification of violence meet historical revisionism? Well, this week those forces met in Norway, and the noise machine kicked into gear.
There are two views of the world. In one view, one accepts that human beings are capable of horrible things as well as wonderful things, while using their individual beliefs to justify extreme behavior on either side and all those in between. In the other view, human beings are capable of horrible things as well as wonderful things, but what marks the difference depends on how much they agree with your own beliefs.
Take the latter too far, and Andrew Sullivan explains what you get:
.
There are two views of the world. In one view, one accepts that human beings are capable of horrible things as well as wonderful things, while using their individual beliefs to justify extreme behavior on either side and all those in between. In the other view, human beings are capable of horrible things as well as wonderful things, but what marks the difference depends on how much they agree with your own beliefs.
Take the latter too far, and Andrew Sullivan explains what you get:
Both Islamism and Christianism, to my mind, do not spring from real religious faith; they spring from neurosis caused by lack of faith. They are the choices of those who are panicked by the complexity and choices of modernity into a fanatical embrace of a simplistic parody of religion in order to attack what they see as their cultural and social enemies. They are not about genuine faith; they are about the instrumentality of faith as a political bludgeon.
.
Rolling the Dice
Some right-of-center folks are making a big deal out of Democratic affiliated businessman Steve Wynn, a casino and resort developer, complaining about Obama's affect on the economy.
This is big for the right-of-center crowd, because it feeds the Democrats-are-anti-business narrative with the gasoline of they even do it to their own business leaders!
Taking a reasonable step back, I'll repeat here what I said in the comments at Peach Pundit.
Emphasis added.
.
This is big for the right-of-center crowd, because it feeds the Democrats-are-anti-business narrative with the gasoline of they even do it to their own business leaders!
Taking a reasonable step back, I'll repeat here what I said in the comments at Peach Pundit.
I think Presidents can have much more than a negligible impact on the American economy. I also think that the President’s imact (sic) is only one part of a massive, chaotic whole, dictated directly and indirectly by situation, state policies, municipal and local policies, technology, past policies at all levels, culture, the spending habits of the American people, the spending habits of small business, the spending habits of big business, and the lending practices of banks. I think the expectation that an American President can control or impact all of that to the point where they “own” the economy is nothing short of unhelpful oversimplification.
Because if the economy is getting worse, how is it that so many investors and entreprenuers are opening up (or trying to open up) shop in New Orleans, maybe the most anti-free enterprise municipality in North America? Why is it I can’t get a seat at Southern Soul BBQ, Sal’s Neighborhood Pizzeria, or Crabdaddy’s on St. Simons Island because the lines are out the door? Sanctuary Cove in Camden might have had to close down when the bubble burst, but chose instead to bottom out their prices and offer killer deals; now they’re probably the best golf value in Coastal Georgia. Wynn’s political affiliation doesn’t matter one whit – he’s angry because there isn’t a market for what he’s selling where he wants to sell it at the price he wants to sell it for.
Emphasis added.
.
A Tale of Two Malls (and a city revitalization effort)
I know Pat has put a few posts up recently on pro-business vs. pro-free-enterprise and this seemed to fit that theme. I blogged a couple of years back on the demise of Forum 303 Mall. In it's place, they built Forum 303 Crossing. It's an industrial park that was part of a public-private deal to revitalize the mall area. The City of Arlington paid to demolish the old mall and made a property tax deal for the new structure. The Dallas Business Journal even gave it an award in 2009. It cost about $23 million to develop with the City of Arlington on the hook for about $7 million of that in demolition costs and property tax cuts.
About 5 miles north on TX-360 is another dying mall: Six Flags Mall. At the time of Forum's demolition, Six Flags Mall had a Dillard's Clearence Center (which moved to Six Flags Mall from Forum 303 the year before Forum closed), Kaplan College, a half-dead food court, a movie theater, and about 40% occupancy on their interior stores. That shot up to about 90% occupancy when Forum closed down but the bulk of those new tenants had already either went elsewhere or closed completely in the two years between Forum's closing and its demolition. But a lot of people were hopeful that the upcoming new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington would revitalize the area including Six Flags Mall. I was highly skeptical about that claim since across TX-360 the Jerrydome was situating itself right next to a Six Flags and the Rangers Stadium. How would it revitalize the area more than attractions that are open much more often during the year?
Yesterday I had some free time in Arlington so I decided check out both properties. My first stop was Six Flags Mall. I don't know if you noticed but the high in the Metroplex has been over 100F for 19 days straight. There was no air conditioning on in the interior of Six Flags Mall. The old Sears wing was roped off. I counted 4 in-line stores remaining. Kaplan College is gone. The food court likely died around that time (except for Italia Express which somehow hangs on). Dillard's is still alive and is air conditioned, but the latest I heard they were planning to move the Clearance Center to Irving Mall. The movie theater is also still alive and well. So at this point Six Flags Mall is a mostly dead carcass. As an added bonus, I looked up the property at the Tarrant County Tax Assessor's website. The current owner hasn't paid the property taxes on the site in about three years when it last changed hands.
Onto Forum 303 Crossing. The first thing I noticed? Kaplan College now has its campus at the Crossing. The next thing I notice? There's not another tenant there. I looked them up and found that the Crossing was sold recently for $16 million. 16 should stick out to you because its the result you get when you subtract 7 from 23.
So for $7 million the City of Arlington demolished an old abandoned property to put in a new shiny mostly-abandoned property whose only tenant dealt a crushing blow to another nearby property when it left. This move resulted in zero new jobs and zero new revenue for Arlington. Would Six Flags Mall have died on its own anyway? Absolutely, but the city certainly sped up the process. Did the Cowboys Stadium revitalize any or Arlginton? Yes. Every strip mall walking distance from the stadium is now at full capacity. There's also a new Wal-Mart near the stadium that is very busy every time I've seen it. But the revitalization didn't reach as far as Six Flags Mall and likely never will.
I'd like to point out that I don't intend this one case to be a condemnation of such public-private partnerships. They can work. And many times they do work. But I do think it's important to point out that there are risks when a government enters into such agreements. And when such arrangements do fail the government is often the partner left holding the bag.
About 5 miles north on TX-360 is another dying mall: Six Flags Mall. At the time of Forum's demolition, Six Flags Mall had a Dillard's Clearence Center (which moved to Six Flags Mall from Forum 303 the year before Forum closed), Kaplan College, a half-dead food court, a movie theater, and about 40% occupancy on their interior stores. That shot up to about 90% occupancy when Forum closed down but the bulk of those new tenants had already either went elsewhere or closed completely in the two years between Forum's closing and its demolition. But a lot of people were hopeful that the upcoming new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington would revitalize the area including Six Flags Mall. I was highly skeptical about that claim since across TX-360 the Jerrydome was situating itself right next to a Six Flags and the Rangers Stadium. How would it revitalize the area more than attractions that are open much more often during the year?
Yesterday I had some free time in Arlington so I decided check out both properties. My first stop was Six Flags Mall. I don't know if you noticed but the high in the Metroplex has been over 100F for 19 days straight. There was no air conditioning on in the interior of Six Flags Mall. The old Sears wing was roped off. I counted 4 in-line stores remaining. Kaplan College is gone. The food court likely died around that time (except for Italia Express which somehow hangs on). Dillard's is still alive and is air conditioned, but the latest I heard they were planning to move the Clearance Center to Irving Mall. The movie theater is also still alive and well. So at this point Six Flags Mall is a mostly dead carcass. As an added bonus, I looked up the property at the Tarrant County Tax Assessor's website. The current owner hasn't paid the property taxes on the site in about three years when it last changed hands.
Onto Forum 303 Crossing. The first thing I noticed? Kaplan College now has its campus at the Crossing. The next thing I notice? There's not another tenant there. I looked them up and found that the Crossing was sold recently for $16 million. 16 should stick out to you because its the result you get when you subtract 7 from 23.
So for $7 million the City of Arlington demolished an old abandoned property to put in a new shiny mostly-abandoned property whose only tenant dealt a crushing blow to another nearby property when it left. This move resulted in zero new jobs and zero new revenue for Arlington. Would Six Flags Mall have died on its own anyway? Absolutely, but the city certainly sped up the process. Did the Cowboys Stadium revitalize any or Arlginton? Yes. Every strip mall walking distance from the stadium is now at full capacity. There's also a new Wal-Mart near the stadium that is very busy every time I've seen it. But the revitalization didn't reach as far as Six Flags Mall and likely never will.
I'd like to point out that I don't intend this one case to be a condemnation of such public-private partnerships. They can work. And many times they do work. But I do think it's important to point out that there are risks when a government enters into such agreements. And when such arrangements do fail the government is often the partner left holding the bag.
The Gentilly Wal-Mart
For the record, I'm not as much anti-WalMart as I am anti-WalMart increasing sprawl and using government subsidies to do it.
But if WalMart wants to build an in-town store that is already a blighted former strip-mall, they adhere to all existing zoning specifications, the neighborhood is reasonably behind the decision, and they ask for zero government subsidies to do it, you'll hear no complaint from me.
Just like the idea of a WalMart in the French Quarter - if you follow the rules and don't need corporate welfare from the city, feel free to compete in the free-enterprise system.
.
But if WalMart wants to build an in-town store that is already a blighted former strip-mall, they adhere to all existing zoning specifications, the neighborhood is reasonably behind the decision, and they ask for zero government subsidies to do it, you'll hear no complaint from me.
Just like the idea of a WalMart in the French Quarter - if you follow the rules and don't need corporate welfare from the city, feel free to compete in the free-enterprise system.
.
The Iron Throne
I started reading A Game of Thrones based on the online discussions that took place at First Draft during the HBO series' first season. I'll be picking up the second book this week.
Like most good science fiction and fantasy, George R. R. Martin's books go beyond the story on the pages and serve as allegories to our world. Like the best science fiction and fantasty writing, it does this in ways both subtle and sublime, and avoids the hokiness of smacking the reader over the head with some sort of message.
So it isn't a surprise to me that Foreign Policy magazine took a look at the series through the lens of international relations, or that Wired breaks down military strategy.
.
Like most good science fiction and fantasy, George R. R. Martin's books go beyond the story on the pages and serve as allegories to our world. Like the best science fiction and fantasty writing, it does this in ways both subtle and sublime, and avoids the hokiness of smacking the reader over the head with some sort of message.
So it isn't a surprise to me that Foreign Policy magazine took a look at the series through the lens of international relations, or that Wired breaks down military strategy.
.
Pro-Free Enterprise
Ask and ye shall recieve. In response to a comment I made last week on WalMart subsidies, Owen Courreges at Uptown Messenger examines the difference between being "pro-business" and being "pro-free enterprise."
Pro-business being another term I associate with "business friendliness," the turn of phrase preferred by so very many Southern Chambers of Commerce as they pick the pockets of some businesses to put cash in the pockets of their more invested interests.
As a Southern Liberal, I can justify subsidies and tax breaks and infrastructure investments that stand to augment all businesses in a place. The Tennessee Valley Authority made a lot of people rich while taking a lot of other people's land. It also provided power for millions. The Port of New Orleans and the Port of Savannah allow any businesses to ship their goods by sea. Farm subsidies can be gamed to make millions for agribusiness, but they've also helped stabilize food prices. There are trade offs, and the people must be vigilant and informed of where their tax dollars are going, who is using them, and who stands to benefit the most.
That's because the free enterprise system requires rules and a just playing field in order for the true market competition to work. On the other hand, using tax revenues generated by some businesses to support their competition is when the government - and their well-connected interests - violate the free market to choose the winners and the losers in unfair competition. That may be "pro-(specific)-businesses" or "business friendly," in name, but it is more akin to feudalism in practice.
.
Pro-business being another term I associate with "business friendliness," the turn of phrase preferred by so very many Southern Chambers of Commerce as they pick the pockets of some businesses to put cash in the pockets of their more invested interests.
As a Southern Liberal, I can justify subsidies and tax breaks and infrastructure investments that stand to augment all businesses in a place. The Tennessee Valley Authority made a lot of people rich while taking a lot of other people's land. It also provided power for millions. The Port of New Orleans and the Port of Savannah allow any businesses to ship their goods by sea. Farm subsidies can be gamed to make millions for agribusiness, but they've also helped stabilize food prices. There are trade offs, and the people must be vigilant and informed of where their tax dollars are going, who is using them, and who stands to benefit the most.
That's because the free enterprise system requires rules and a just playing field in order for the true market competition to work. On the other hand, using tax revenues generated by some businesses to support their competition is when the government - and their well-connected interests - violate the free market to choose the winners and the losers in unfair competition. That may be "pro-(specific)-businesses" or "business friendly," in name, but it is more akin to feudalism in practice.
.
Death Penalty Incentives
Another death penalty case where a conviction was overturned because the prosecutors weren't forthcoming with the defense. And rightly so.
But that prosecutor doesn't need to worry. It isn't like the guy who erroneously spent 10 years on death row can sue for his lost time.
.
But that prosecutor doesn't need to worry. It isn't like the guy who erroneously spent 10 years on death row can sue for his lost time.
.
Admitting Failure
If you asked New Orleans homeowners to agree to a $200 - $250 a year increase in their property taxes, and put it to a referendum, it would likely fail. Charge the same homeowners that money to pay for a "security district" of NOPD officers, and they pony up.
I'm not worried about the arrest and incident quotas brought up in the article, no matter how problematic they may be.
What concerns me is the idea that certain areas feel the need to pay extra because they accept that normal police coverage isn't enough in this city. To me, that sets a dangerous precedent. My problem is with the entire concept, and I don't care if this is how they do it wherever else.
.
I'm not worried about the arrest and incident quotas brought up in the article, no matter how problematic they may be.
What concerns me is the idea that certain areas feel the need to pay extra because they accept that normal police coverage isn't enough in this city. To me, that sets a dangerous precedent. My problem is with the entire concept, and I don't care if this is how they do it wherever else.
.
Subsidizing the Arts
Author Kevin Kane recently advocated Louisiana cut subsidies for 'the arts' in the Pelican State.
Lamar quickly takes him to task:
.
If there is evidence that government support has been integral to any of these great traditions, Martin does not offer it.
Lamar quickly takes him to task:
Mardi Gras? I hate to break it to you, but it’s publicly-subsidized.
.
Quality vs Quantity?
When I read Alicia's blog post, all I could think about is that I wanted to share it. Her post is a great read for anyone currently battling breast cancer as well as for the newly diagnosed. In my blog I strive to empower women with the information and strength to have a more successful cancer journey. Alli adds intense incite into the process, so I hope you will benefit from her experiences and candidness. Thank you Alli for sharing your post. To read more from Alli’s blog, please visit: http://alli-lifeintransition.blogspot.com/2011/07/quality-vs-quantity.html
Quality vs Quantity?
The day you receive the diagnosis , you have Breast Cancer life after that is never the same. Everyone takes the news differently. Some fall apart, others will claim the news was a wake up call inspiring them to change their lives. Others like my self pure fear at the unknown outcome, never being certain how things will be in our futures, how long that future will be and if we even have one! You read everything you can get your hands on your particular cancer. You want to know statistics cure rates how long will I live, what the different stages signify..Your mind gets overloaded on Breast Cancer information, and it still isn't enough. If it were possible you would read every single detailed paper written on your type.
You begin your roller coaster ride of treatments beginning with surgery, you have your breasts removed told that there was no other option especially if there is lymph node involvement.
Chemo is definitely not fun in fact it is the worst shock your body endures. Having poison pumped through your veins. You hope that the cancer is destroyed, in the process the treatment doesn't kill you first. You still do it because Chemo is the only "REAL" hope that will keep the cancer from spreading. Or so you are led to believe. Of course there is radiation but many times radiation is over used and not enough clarity is given before you begin treatment . How it will burn your skin leaving blisters as though you sat out far too long in the burning sun. Of course we are told repeatedly to avoid the sun because it can cause Cancer well so can being over radiated. One of my dearest friends is proof positive having developed a Secondary Cancer on her Clavical a direct cause from over radiation. I decided to pass on that one!
You do what you are told for these months of treatments. You are told you will be fine, you expect to bounce back almost immediately. Ok you lose your hair, but no one mentioned your fingernails coming off or the other side effects like Neuropathy that may become a permanent condition of Nerve damage from Chemo.. You will pick everything up from the point you stopped. It doesn't quite work that way. In fact you are lucky if you are able to do a small amount of what you used to do...You are not told of the amount of fatigue you experience.The ups and downs....
We are told if we are Estrogen positive there are "Wonder" drugs that will help in the prevention of a recurrence. We take them . Then it starts, the side effects kick in. You are going to be Superwoman, you can take a little pain but the little pain turns into a bigger pain until it becomes so debilitating you can barely stand. Climbing out of bed putting pressure on your ankles, trying to stand up and walk expends so much energy because all you can feel at that moment is intense pain shooting through your bones... You tell your Oncologist he looks at you as though you are the only one having issues.that it is uncommon, you almost believe him .. You try a second drug a third. One has different side effects that affects you differently from the others. You try another one it is in the same family as the first, you are told in advance you may have the same side effects. OK so why prescribe it? Essentially all these drugs and treatments are to buy you more time. Once you have gone through treatments you come to the realization there is no cure for Cancer. It is still there dormant somewhere in your body..
Your thoughts turn to a different place. One that you would not even consider had you not had cancer. It's a question a cancer patient will ask himself over and over again. We don't dare tell our loved ones - at least not yet. Is it the Quantity of your life that counts Or is it the Quality?
When you know your options are limited. Your bones and joints are so painful. The base of your spine feels like someone dropped kicked you. Your knees ache so badly you feel like a ninety year old.You even wonder in some circumstances if death would be kinder option than going through endless days of hurting.
Of course we want to live!!! This is such a complicated situation.. However if the quality of your life is reduced to living in constant pain, do you continue with the drug therapy or do you stop consider the QUALITY of your life? Enjoy being pain free for what ever time?
Right now it is still merely speculative that without these drugs we are leaving ourselves wide open to something worse. This is only because we are told this by our Oncologist. They themselves don't know. I have asked my Oncologist several times each visit can you guarantee that I will not get a secondary cancer by taking these drugs?? Response:: "There are no guarantees"! Then why are you scaring women to death?? We are terrified if we don't take them fearing that ugly "C" word!
I have been doing a considerable amount of reading various reputable web sites where women have stopped taking Arimidex, Femara, Tamoxifen, several have surpassed living past the time key they were given.They are living a life without pain..
Could it be with a change in diet, habit include peaceful thinking, low impact exercising meditation could be an answer for some of us?
Of course you will have those opposed simply on religious grounds that it is not our choice to make. They will oppose you every step of the way. Quantifying your life, only GOD has the right to decide how long we live. What if you are an Atheist?
Before being diagnosed, before all your treatments, this question would never even come up in a conversation or in your own thoughts.....
Cancer patients are always going through insurmountable guilt. You feel guilty for becoming ill. You feel guilty because you can not maintain the way you were before Cancer picked you as a home. You feel guilty because you feel that you failed the expectations of others, you should be positive, positivity will give you a new lease on life. As long as you keep smiling......You feel guilty because sometimes that's impossible....
We are facing the biggest dilemma of our lives .It will directly impact everyone within our close circle of family and friends. Is it selfish to stop taking something that causes a body so much discomfort? Is it wrong to want to enjoy our lives relatively pain free even though we know our time may be limited?
Enjoy a quality of life you may not have otherwise?
Someone went so far in saying stopping your meds is a form of self-induced Euthanasia..Again we do not have scientific proof or otherwise taking them or not will make any difference No Guarantees remember!!
It is so difficult to try and come to terms with. Along with being complicated. You have the tendency to flip flop back and forth..
In as much as we might not want to admit it, I'm sure I'm not the only one who has thought about this.
Funny thing is, there are hundreds of us if not thousands on these drugs who are suffering from severe pain.
I can't understand how Oncologists can be so ignorant en mass....dismissing their patients nearly accusing them of be hyperchondriac yet have no qualms prescribing narcotics to suppress the very pain many claim is non existent.
Again I am going to harp on the millions of dollars that are collected through Fundraising . Why are some of these funds not directed towards finding a way to alleviate the side effects?
Or are we as women that expendable?
You begin your roller coaster ride of treatments beginning with surgery, you have your breasts removed told that there was no other option especially if there is lymph node involvement.
Chemo is definitely not fun in fact it is the worst shock your body endures. Having poison pumped through your veins. You hope that the cancer is destroyed, in the process the treatment doesn't kill you first. You still do it because Chemo is the only "REAL" hope that will keep the cancer from spreading. Or so you are led to believe. Of course there is radiation but many times radiation is over used and not enough clarity is given before you begin treatment . How it will burn your skin leaving blisters as though you sat out far too long in the burning sun. Of course we are told repeatedly to avoid the sun because it can cause Cancer well so can being over radiated. One of my dearest friends is proof positive having developed a Secondary Cancer on her Clavical a direct cause from over radiation. I decided to pass on that one!
You do what you are told for these months of treatments. You are told you will be fine, you expect to bounce back almost immediately. Ok you lose your hair, but no one mentioned your fingernails coming off or the other side effects like Neuropathy that may become a permanent condition of Nerve damage from Chemo.. You will pick everything up from the point you stopped. It doesn't quite work that way. In fact you are lucky if you are able to do a small amount of what you used to do...You are not told of the amount of fatigue you experience.The ups and downs....
We are told if we are Estrogen positive there are "Wonder" drugs that will help in the prevention of a recurrence. We take them . Then it starts, the side effects kick in. You are going to be Superwoman, you can take a little pain but the little pain turns into a bigger pain until it becomes so debilitating you can barely stand. Climbing out of bed putting pressure on your ankles, trying to stand up and walk expends so much energy because all you can feel at that moment is intense pain shooting through your bones... You tell your Oncologist he looks at you as though you are the only one having issues.that it is uncommon, you almost believe him .. You try a second drug a third. One has different side effects that affects you differently from the others. You try another one it is in the same family as the first, you are told in advance you may have the same side effects. OK so why prescribe it? Essentially all these drugs and treatments are to buy you more time. Once you have gone through treatments you come to the realization there is no cure for Cancer. It is still there dormant somewhere in your body..
Your thoughts turn to a different place. One that you would not even consider had you not had cancer. It's a question a cancer patient will ask himself over and over again. We don't dare tell our loved ones - at least not yet. Is it the Quantity of your life that counts Or is it the Quality?
When you know your options are limited. Your bones and joints are so painful. The base of your spine feels like someone dropped kicked you. Your knees ache so badly you feel like a ninety year old.You even wonder in some circumstances if death would be kinder option than going through endless days of hurting.
Of course we want to live!!! This is such a complicated situation.. However if the quality of your life is reduced to living in constant pain, do you continue with the drug therapy or do you stop consider the QUALITY of your life? Enjoy being pain free for what ever time?
Right now it is still merely speculative that without these drugs we are leaving ourselves wide open to something worse. This is only because we are told this by our Oncologist. They themselves don't know. I have asked my Oncologist several times each visit can you guarantee that I will not get a secondary cancer by taking these drugs?? Response:: "There are no guarantees"! Then why are you scaring women to death?? We are terrified if we don't take them fearing that ugly "C" word!
I have been doing a considerable amount of reading various reputable web sites where women have stopped taking Arimidex, Femara, Tamoxifen, several have surpassed living past the time key they were given.They are living a life without pain..
Could it be with a change in diet, habit include peaceful thinking, low impact exercising meditation could be an answer for some of us?
Of course you will have those opposed simply on religious grounds that it is not our choice to make. They will oppose you every step of the way. Quantifying your life, only GOD has the right to decide how long we live. What if you are an Atheist?
Before being diagnosed, before all your treatments, this question would never even come up in a conversation or in your own thoughts.....
Cancer patients are always going through insurmountable guilt. You feel guilty for becoming ill. You feel guilty because you can not maintain the way you were before Cancer picked you as a home. You feel guilty because you feel that you failed the expectations of others, you should be positive, positivity will give you a new lease on life. As long as you keep smiling......You feel guilty because sometimes that's impossible....
We are facing the biggest dilemma of our lives .It will directly impact everyone within our close circle of family and friends. Is it selfish to stop taking something that causes a body so much discomfort? Is it wrong to want to enjoy our lives relatively pain free even though we know our time may be limited?
Enjoy a quality of life you may not have otherwise?
Someone went so far in saying stopping your meds is a form of self-induced Euthanasia..Again we do not have scientific proof or otherwise taking them or not will make any difference No Guarantees remember!!
It is so difficult to try and come to terms with. Along with being complicated. You have the tendency to flip flop back and forth..
In as much as we might not want to admit it, I'm sure I'm not the only one who has thought about this.
Funny thing is, there are hundreds of us if not thousands on these drugs who are suffering from severe pain.
I can't understand how Oncologists can be so ignorant en mass....dismissing their patients nearly accusing them of be hyperchondriac yet have no qualms prescribing narcotics to suppress the very pain many claim is non existent.
Again I am going to harp on the millions of dollars that are collected through Fundraising . Why are some of these funds not directed towards finding a way to alleviate the side effects?
Or are we as women that expendable?
Elyn Jacobs
elynjacobs.blogspot.com
**********************************************************
Elyn Jacobs is President of Elyn Jacobs Consulting, Inc. and a breast cancer survivor. She empowers women diagnosed with cancer to navigate the process of treatment and care, and she educates about how to prevent recurrence and new cancers. She is passionate about helping others get past their cancer and into a cancer-free life.
**********************************************************
Elyn Jacobs is President of Elyn Jacobs Consulting, Inc. and a breast cancer survivor. She empowers women diagnosed with cancer to navigate the process of treatment and care, and she educates about how to prevent recurrence and new cancers. She is passionate about helping others get past their cancer and into a cancer-free life.
Profiles in Courage
Let's talk about the successful charter school experiment in New Orleans. I like how the article pops on a Friday afternoon to depress the readership as much as possible.
Don't ever believe the hype. If you allow charters to be run badly, they will have the exact same problems you find in regular schools that are run badly. The only answer is to actually make sure whatever schools your local tax dollars are paying for are run by professionals.
And you damn sure can't put the blame for this on the teachers. If it weren't for some of these courageous ladies (some of whom I know) damning the torpedoes and blowing the whistle, this craziness might never have been exposed.
Bravo, ladies.
.
Don't ever believe the hype. If you allow charters to be run badly, they will have the exact same problems you find in regular schools that are run badly. The only answer is to actually make sure whatever schools your local tax dollars are paying for are run by professionals.
And you damn sure can't put the blame for this on the teachers. If it weren't for some of these courageous ladies (some of whom I know) damning the torpedoes and blowing the whistle, this craziness might never have been exposed.
Bravo, ladies.
.
The War of When?
Jonathan Rauch at The Dish starts a discussion about who really won the war of 1812. Several emailed comments seem confused. I guess the answer to "who won" depends on who you ask, and everyone's got a claim to fame.
Down in New Orleans, there damn sure ain't no questions.
.
Down in New Orleans, there damn sure ain't no questions.
.
Peach Sticker Shock
Because the Almighty cares what sticker you put on your car's license plate. Doesn't have anything better to do, really.
< / eyeroll >
This is more news about Christians falling all over themselves to prove how Christian they are to other Christians, and make those of us who don't follow their particular narrow worldview of evangelical exhibitionism know that we are doomed to the Fiery Pit.
Of course some of them are going to be agitated that they'll have to render unto Ceasar what is Ceasar's by paying a $1 fee for the "In God We Trust" sticker. Customization always costs, though some of these folks would have you believe that not printing IGWT on ALL THE PLATES is somewhere in the arena of Christians getting thrown to the lions. There goes the government again, persecuting Christianists by not requiring every single car owner to agree with them.
There is, of course, little outcry that no non-religious sticker option yet exists. Because, you know, a lot of folks have bigger concerns in their lives. The end result? The Georgia DOT got the plate designs it wanted.
.
< / eyeroll >
This is more news about Christians falling all over themselves to prove how Christian they are to other Christians, and make those of us who don't follow their particular narrow worldview of evangelical exhibitionism know that we are doomed to the Fiery Pit.
Of course some of them are going to be agitated that they'll have to render unto Ceasar what is Ceasar's by paying a $1 fee for the "In God We Trust" sticker. Customization always costs, though some of these folks would have you believe that not printing IGWT on ALL THE PLATES is somewhere in the arena of Christians getting thrown to the lions. There goes the government again, persecuting Christianists by not requiring every single car owner to agree with them.
There is, of course, little outcry that no non-religious sticker option yet exists. Because, you know, a lot of folks have bigger concerns in their lives. The end result? The Georgia DOT got the plate designs it wanted.
.
Development & Density?
No thanks. By failing to approve a new mixed use, high density urban development, the "preservationists" would rather keep Canal Street's "historical character" of boarded up buildings, shut down hotels, shoe shops, and faux-voodoo tourist kitsch.
That's a shame for a streetscape that should be one of the bustling, dynamic, walkable commerical avenues of the Southeastern United States.
Wide streets can be fronted by tall buildings, that's one of the way urban design is supposed to work. I find the complaints of this building's height to be baseless. There are plenty of other buildings on that streetscape of that height, and they work because they front Canal.
Historical character? The building design does look "modern" in the aspect that it appears to use state of the art building design and materials. While this may not fit perfectly with the rest of the street towards the river, it isn't like this is some concrete-block monstrosity or post-modern experiment going in on that street.
As for the building it is replacing, it is a ramshackle low rise with a boarded up first floor covered in graffiti and posters. There is a need here to balance historical character with needed economic expansion. You'll be more able to preserve the historical character of other buildings and this part of the city as a whole if it is part of a working, dynamic downtown economy.
In other words, the Saenger Theatre, the Lowe's Theatre, and the Broadway South concept for that intersection isn't going to work if the theatres have no economic support nearby. If the University Medical Center ever does get built, people who work there could live in this building and walk to work, increasing the value of properties between this location going up Canal Street - an area that desperately needs commerical dollars.
And the folks making these decisions need to look up the definition of "leverage." They have some leverage in that a location like this on Canal Street should be quite valuable. But that knowledge needs to temptered with the reality that a location like this on Canal Street currently isn't as valuable as it could be, because of a lack of developers willing to take a risk of locating there.
Because, while the location has the potential to be very valuable based on the proximity of planned theatres and hospitals, those planned theatres and hospitals aren't yet done deals. Going ahead with developments of this nature assist the critical mass required for those projects to be successful. Otherwise, you'll end up stuck with the street the way it is now.
.
That's a shame for a streetscape that should be one of the bustling, dynamic, walkable commerical avenues of the Southeastern United States.
Wide streets can be fronted by tall buildings, that's one of the way urban design is supposed to work. I find the complaints of this building's height to be baseless. There are plenty of other buildings on that streetscape of that height, and they work because they front Canal.
Historical character? The building design does look "modern" in the aspect that it appears to use state of the art building design and materials. While this may not fit perfectly with the rest of the street towards the river, it isn't like this is some concrete-block monstrosity or post-modern experiment going in on that street.
As for the building it is replacing, it is a ramshackle low rise with a boarded up first floor covered in graffiti and posters. There is a need here to balance historical character with needed economic expansion. You'll be more able to preserve the historical character of other buildings and this part of the city as a whole if it is part of a working, dynamic downtown economy.
In other words, the Saenger Theatre, the Lowe's Theatre, and the Broadway South concept for that intersection isn't going to work if the theatres have no economic support nearby. If the University Medical Center ever does get built, people who work there could live in this building and walk to work, increasing the value of properties between this location going up Canal Street - an area that desperately needs commerical dollars.
And the folks making these decisions need to look up the definition of "leverage." They have some leverage in that a location like this on Canal Street should be quite valuable. But that knowledge needs to temptered with the reality that a location like this on Canal Street currently isn't as valuable as it could be, because of a lack of developers willing to take a risk of locating there.
Because, while the location has the potential to be very valuable based on the proximity of planned theatres and hospitals, those planned theatres and hospitals aren't yet done deals. Going ahead with developments of this nature assist the critical mass required for those projects to be successful. Otherwise, you'll end up stuck with the street the way it is now.
.
Rationing
OH NOES! TEH DEATH PANELIZMS BE RATIONING MAH HEALTH CARES!!!
It sure doesn't take long to manufacture a dog-whistle, does it? Of course, Representative Gingrey phrases it like this:
Wow, those are pretty words. The long form of "TEH DEATH PANELIZMS!" And yet,
Which brings me to another point regarding political communication. When Democrats, progressives, and liberals lose elections because they don't think they have to convince people to agree with them, their answer is "The American People are Stupid" or "Why Do People Vote Against Their Own Interests" or "WHHAAA! Politics is Hard!!"
On the other hands, the GOP blames Americans' status as "ill-informed" due to "distracting gimmicks" from the Democrats.
Guess who wins more credibility just through phrasing? (HINT: Who controls the US House of Representatives?)
.
It sure doesn't take long to manufacture a dog-whistle, does it? Of course, Representative Gingrey phrases it like this:
Well, here are the facts: the only proposal to reform Medicare that President Obama has advanced is to employ a bureaucratic panel to ration health care. These 15 unelected individuals comprise a board called the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), which was first created in Obamacare. It’s empowered to make decisions about critical coverage and payment policies regarding Medicare — without having to answer to the American people.
Wow, those are pretty words. The long form of "TEH DEATH PANELIZMS!" And yet,
These distracting gimmicks have allowed Democrats to avoid discussing the dangers of IPAB and unfairly rendered many Americans ill-informed.
Which brings me to another point regarding political communication. When Democrats, progressives, and liberals lose elections because they don't think they have to convince people to agree with them, their answer is "The American People are Stupid" or "Why Do People Vote Against Their Own Interests" or "WHHAAA! Politics is Hard!!"
On the other hands, the GOP blames Americans' status as "ill-informed" due to "distracting gimmicks" from the Democrats.
Guess who wins more credibility just through phrasing? (HINT: Who controls the US House of Representatives?)
.
Literal Dark Ages
I'm sure any government restrictions on asbestos and lead paint will be forthcoming after reading this.
.
.
Caylee's Law?
Get ready for the cable-news-personality-driven push to enact "Caylee's Law" all over the country. They're entertaining one in the State of Georgia, and the usually diverse commentary at Peach Pundit presented a nearly united front against.
.
.
Race to the Bottom?
MOAR SOUTHERNERZ BE TAKING URR JOABS!!!
Georgia gets ready to make a bid for the North American Audi manufacturing plant. While this might be exciting that more manufacturing is taking place in the Deep South, I despise the fact that the main discussion centers around which states will offer the most robust subsidies for these industries. According to the article, Georgia offered Kia $400M in breaks, and Tennessee offered Volkswagen $500M.
Yes, I realize that these are subsidies that include tax exemptions for taxes that wouldn't exist if the plant was built somewhere else. Hell, as a Southern Liberal, I'm all about using strategic subsidies to encourage development where appropriate. It just chaps me that people may not realize just how much of the store the state gives away to land these developments, and I definitely want the dialouge to be more honest.
People need to know, after all, how much the state is making off such a robust investment. People also need to know how this sort of thing plays with the "small government" narrative. Such expenditures are often labeled as "pork" or "bailouts" when a less politically-savvy political party makes deals of this kind.
Of course, I am glad to be proven completely correct about the root cause for the Seattle vs. South Carolina Boeing dust-up. It is all about the subsidies, baby.
.
Georgia gets ready to make a bid for the North American Audi manufacturing plant. While this might be exciting that more manufacturing is taking place in the Deep South, I despise the fact that the main discussion centers around which states will offer the most robust subsidies for these industries. According to the article, Georgia offered Kia $400M in breaks, and Tennessee offered Volkswagen $500M.
Yes, I realize that these are subsidies that include tax exemptions for taxes that wouldn't exist if the plant was built somewhere else. Hell, as a Southern Liberal, I'm all about using strategic subsidies to encourage development where appropriate. It just chaps me that people may not realize just how much of the store the state gives away to land these developments, and I definitely want the dialouge to be more honest.
People need to know, after all, how much the state is making off such a robust investment. People also need to know how this sort of thing plays with the "small government" narrative. Such expenditures are often labeled as "pork" or "bailouts" when a less politically-savvy political party makes deals of this kind.
Of course, I am glad to be proven completely correct about the root cause for the Seattle vs. South Carolina Boeing dust-up. It is all about the subsidies, baby.
.
Negotiating Mr. Hand Style
So Obama is telling Cantor not to call his bluff, Obama lost his cool, Cantor is a big fat baby, and Mr. Hand wants to know why Jeff Spicoli shamelessly wastes his time in class. What do they all have in common?
"I don't know."
I have no idea if any of the above 3 non-Fast-Times-related items even happened. Why? Because the American people are not allowed to see and hear what's happening in negotiations that will seriously impact America's financial future. There's no national security risk here. These negotiations (like all such government negotiation) should be a matter of public record. The only reason to hide behind closed doors for this sort of thing is because those politicians don't want the general public to know what's being considered. I personally hope our information age eventually hits its full stride and that it leaves our politicians unable to hide. In the meantime, we're stuck with this he-said-she-said crap.
"I don't know."
I have no idea if any of the above 3 non-Fast-Times-related items even happened. Why? Because the American people are not allowed to see and hear what's happening in negotiations that will seriously impact America's financial future. There's no national security risk here. These negotiations (like all such government negotiation) should be a matter of public record. The only reason to hide behind closed doors for this sort of thing is because those politicians don't want the general public to know what's being considered. I personally hope our information age eventually hits its full stride and that it leaves our politicians unable to hide. In the meantime, we're stuck with this he-said-she-said crap.
Why the Race is going in the Wrong Direction
Much progress has been made in Breast Cancer awareness. However, being aware of cancer neither prevents nor cures cancer. If I told you that I am aware my kitchen window is broken, would you cheer? Would my telling you this fix my window? Would it prevent another ball from coming in the window? No. I think the race for the cure is over. I ask you, who would benefit from finding the cure? Women, not drug companies right? But it is becoming painfully obvious that money is not being spent on a cure, but rather on drugs and talking about cancer. We now need to spend money and energy on the prevention of cancer as well as exploring new and less toxic treatments for cancer. What’s new and worthy of research and trials? Read on.
Scientists are aware of a virus that initiates cancer in mice. Could this virus be responsible for cancer in humans? Maybe; scientists estimate that approximately 40% of all human breast cancers may be related to a virus. This virus, called the human mammary tumor virus, is nearly identical to a virus found in mice. (mouse-mammary tumor virus) that causes breast cancer in 95% of the animals it infects. If it can be proven that this virus causes human breast cancer, a vaccine could be developed to protect against it, and new therapies could be developed that could treat those women whose breast cancers are caused by it. It’s time we stop racing and start researching. To learn more, please see this documentary film, It’s Time to Answer the Question, nominated Best Film of the Year 2010 by Rethink Breast Cancer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4SCKJ1l27o.
There are at least two promising vaccines in the works. One, which is being conducted by Dr Brian J. Czerniecki, MD, PhD at the University of Pennsylvania, is already being tested in women with breast cancer—and is showing remarkable but under-reported results. He is currently the principle investigator for a vaccine trial for patients with DCIS. What is unique about Dr. Czerniecki’s trial is that it examines the efficacy and safety of vaccines in a much earlier setting, even before invasive cancer is present. The results from this trial are particularly exciting as they open the door for the use of vaccines as cancer prevention tools as opposed to treatment of late stage disease. To read more about Dr. Czerniecki’s vaccine, please visit:
http://www.penniesinaction.org/messagefromuschi4.html
http://www.penniesinaction.org/vaccine%20explanation.html
http://www.penniesinaction.org/about4.html
Another exciting study, spearheaded by Professor Vincent Tuohy of the Cleveland Clinic, has the potential to produce the first preventive breast cancer vaccine that also has therapeutic potential for women with Stage IV breast cancer. In May 2010, Professor announced that he had successfully developed the first preventive breast cancer vaccine, capable of preventing breast cancer in 100% of mice and also capable of slowing the growth of tumors that had already formed. Tuohy, a recipient of prior R01 grants from the NIH (the most prestigious funding available), is ready to begin Phase I trials (safety testing) in women. If Tuohy’s vaccine is safe and effective, it could eliminate 95% of breast cancer in this country, and possibly become an important therapeutic treatment for the 3 million breast cancer survivors now living in the USA. However, for this vaccine to become a reality, Professor Tuohy must receive the necessary funding. For more information on Tuohy’s paper, please see this link: http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/v16/n7/abs/nm.2161.html
To view a short video of Tuohy’s work, please see this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QffAJmyALb0
Exciting news? Yes, however, here is the big question. I talk a lot about cancer, cancer prevention and treatments. I go to as many conferences as I can. Why is it that there is so little talk of viruses and vaccines for breast cancer? I have Dr Kathleen Ruddy and Janet Hanson to thank for the information included it this blog. I am grateful to have learned of the new possibilities. However, for these and other cancer vaccines to begin to save lives, we need to stop talking and start funding the right studies. Now the challenge is not to keep aimlessly racing…it’s time to put some money in the hands of these skilled researchers and to let them test their theories.
Dr Ruddy sent me a blog she wrote last night, I love her idea of changing National Breast Cancer Awareness Month to National Breast Cancer Action Month. It’s about time we focused on action instead of pretty pink ribbons. To read her blog, please view: http://breastcancerbydrruddy.com/?p=2894
Elyn Jacobs
elyn@elynjacobs.com
elynjacobs.blogspot.com
**********************************************************
Elyn Jacobs is President of Elyn Jacobs Consulting, Inc. and a breast cancer survivor. She empowers women diagnosed with cancer to navigate the process of treatment and care, and she educates about how to prevent recurrence and new cancers. She is passionate about helping others get past their cancer and into a cancer-free life.
Scientists are aware of a virus that initiates cancer in mice. Could this virus be responsible for cancer in humans? Maybe; scientists estimate that approximately 40% of all human breast cancers may be related to a virus. This virus, called the human mammary tumor virus, is nearly identical to a virus found in mice. (mouse-mammary tumor virus) that causes breast cancer in 95% of the animals it infects. If it can be proven that this virus causes human breast cancer, a vaccine could be developed to protect against it, and new therapies could be developed that could treat those women whose breast cancers are caused by it. It’s time we stop racing and start researching. To learn more, please see this documentary film, It’s Time to Answer the Question, nominated Best Film of the Year 2010 by Rethink Breast Cancer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4SCKJ1l27o.
There are at least two promising vaccines in the works. One, which is being conducted by Dr Brian J. Czerniecki, MD, PhD at the University of Pennsylvania, is already being tested in women with breast cancer—and is showing remarkable but under-reported results. He is currently the principle investigator for a vaccine trial for patients with DCIS. What is unique about Dr. Czerniecki’s trial is that it examines the efficacy and safety of vaccines in a much earlier setting, even before invasive cancer is present. The results from this trial are particularly exciting as they open the door for the use of vaccines as cancer prevention tools as opposed to treatment of late stage disease. To read more about Dr. Czerniecki’s vaccine, please visit:
http://www.penniesinaction.org/messagefromuschi4.html
http://www.penniesinaction.org/vaccine%20explanation.html
http://www.penniesinaction.org/about4.html
Another exciting study, spearheaded by Professor Vincent Tuohy of the Cleveland Clinic, has the potential to produce the first preventive breast cancer vaccine that also has therapeutic potential for women with Stage IV breast cancer. In May 2010, Professor announced that he had successfully developed the first preventive breast cancer vaccine, capable of preventing breast cancer in 100% of mice and also capable of slowing the growth of tumors that had already formed. Tuohy, a recipient of prior R01 grants from the NIH (the most prestigious funding available), is ready to begin Phase I trials (safety testing) in women. If Tuohy’s vaccine is safe and effective, it could eliminate 95% of breast cancer in this country, and possibly become an important therapeutic treatment for the 3 million breast cancer survivors now living in the USA. However, for this vaccine to become a reality, Professor Tuohy must receive the necessary funding. For more information on Tuohy’s paper, please see this link: http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/v16/n7/abs/nm.2161.html
To view a short video of Tuohy’s work, please see this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QffAJmyALb0
Exciting news? Yes, however, here is the big question. I talk a lot about cancer, cancer prevention and treatments. I go to as many conferences as I can. Why is it that there is so little talk of viruses and vaccines for breast cancer? I have Dr Kathleen Ruddy and Janet Hanson to thank for the information included it this blog. I am grateful to have learned of the new possibilities. However, for these and other cancer vaccines to begin to save lives, we need to stop talking and start funding the right studies. Now the challenge is not to keep aimlessly racing…it’s time to put some money in the hands of these skilled researchers and to let them test their theories.
Dr Ruddy sent me a blog she wrote last night, I love her idea of changing National Breast Cancer Awareness Month to National Breast Cancer Action Month. It’s about time we focused on action instead of pretty pink ribbons. To read her blog, please view: http://breastcancerbydrruddy.com/?p=2894
Elyn Jacobs
elyn@elynjacobs.com
elynjacobs.blogspot.com
**********************************************************
Elyn Jacobs is President of Elyn Jacobs Consulting, Inc. and a breast cancer survivor. She empowers women diagnosed with cancer to navigate the process of treatment and care, and she educates about how to prevent recurrence and new cancers. She is passionate about helping others get past their cancer and into a cancer-free life.
Legit Verdict
To be clear, I'm of a rationally firm opinion that if someone attacks you with deadly force, you are well within your rights to defend yourself with a firearm.
However, if an attacker has already been shot, and they are unconcious and bleeding on the floor, coming back to stand over them and shoot them 5 more times is little better than cold-blooded execution. It passes the realm of "self-defense" and into the realm of "murder" when the attacker is no longer a threat due to lying prone and bleeding on the floor.
I don't know all the evidence presented in this case, but that's a verdict that appears to have a basis in reality.
.
However, if an attacker has already been shot, and they are unconcious and bleeding on the floor, coming back to stand over them and shoot them 5 more times is little better than cold-blooded execution. It passes the realm of "self-defense" and into the realm of "murder" when the attacker is no longer a threat due to lying prone and bleeding on the floor.
I don't know all the evidence presented in this case, but that's a verdict that appears to have a basis in reality.
.
Too Big for a Nation
And too small for an insane asylum. I like Governor Brown's response to the proposal to create the state of South California: if you don't like it, there's always Arizona.
.
.
Speaking of Shame, Shame...
Just like Christmas in July, President Obama is firing up the Great Social Security Fearmongering Machine a wee bit early. It is a thing of beauty during elections. It's one of the most powerful pieces of rhetoric the Democratic Party has: Evil Republicans will take your Social Security away! Run! Run to the polls! Vote Democrat!
It looks like at least Mitch McConnell is planning to cave. I'm not sure why Obama waited so long for this tactic. All he had to do was whip out the SS Boogeyman and Republicans will run for the hills. If for some reason McConnell is on his own and other Republicans don't go along with him, the next step will be to point out how many minorities will not get their Social Security checks and how the evil racist Republicans are taking away Social Security because they hate minorities.
Personally, I think the next step for the Republican Party is to stand up to this bullying. Obama has raised the stakes. Raise them back. Let August 2 go and for every damn penny our federal government spends, point out that the money could've gone to Social Security checks instead. Obama cares more about X than he does about senior citizens. This especially works if the US continues to service their debt: Obama care more about Communist China than he does about you! Run! Run to the polls! Vote Republican!
It looks like at least Mitch McConnell is planning to cave. I'm not sure why Obama waited so long for this tactic. All he had to do was whip out the SS Boogeyman and Republicans will run for the hills. If for some reason McConnell is on his own and other Republicans don't go along with him, the next step will be to point out how many minorities will not get their Social Security checks and how the evil racist Republicans are taking away Social Security because they hate minorities.
Personally, I think the next step for the Republican Party is to stand up to this bullying. Obama has raised the stakes. Raise them back. Let August 2 go and for every damn penny our federal government spends, point out that the money could've gone to Social Security checks instead. Obama cares more about X than he does about senior citizens. This especially works if the US continues to service their debt: Obama care more about Communist China than he does about you! Run! Run to the polls! Vote Republican!
Shame, Shame
Doug Gillett is at SB Nation Atlanta, doing his part to make the college football offseason roll by a little quicker by trying to find out which of the many rivals could count as the Georgia Bulldogs' biggest.
Last week, he asked which rival is the most fun to beat. One guess as to which team got the most votes.
This week, he's asking which rival brings the most shame in a loss. I know that I'm in a minority. Our Atlanta-centric fan-base will answer this question resoundingly with "Georgia Tech."
Look, I completely understand that answer. But for me, that team is Auburn.
When it comes to the Bees, I understand they're going to catch the Dawgs every once in a great while. They'll just be up for the game, the Dawgs won't and the story will write itself in a close loss. The braying of their more obnoxious fans is more comical than anything else, and I feel no shame listening to them prance about the internets because they've won one football game this decade.
Auburn, on the other hand, is a more evenly matched foe for the Dawgs. Their fans have tasted the sweet nectar of championships, no matter how they were acheived. When they beat Georgia, they just kind of pat Dawg fans on the back and act as if their victory was always assured, has been in the past, and always will be.
.
Last week, he asked which rival is the most fun to beat. One guess as to which team got the most votes.
This week, he's asking which rival brings the most shame in a loss. I know that I'm in a minority. Our Atlanta-centric fan-base will answer this question resoundingly with "Georgia Tech."
Look, I completely understand that answer. But for me, that team is Auburn.
When it comes to the Bees, I understand they're going to catch the Dawgs every once in a great while. They'll just be up for the game, the Dawgs won't and the story will write itself in a close loss. The braying of their more obnoxious fans is more comical than anything else, and I feel no shame listening to them prance about the internets because they've won one football game this decade.
Auburn, on the other hand, is a more evenly matched foe for the Dawgs. Their fans have tasted the sweet nectar of championships, no matter how they were acheived. When they beat Georgia, they just kind of pat Dawg fans on the back and act as if their victory was always assured, has been in the past, and always will be.
.
Hypotheses for Natural Cancer Remission
Today I am excited to share a guest blog by Kelly Turner. Kelly is a researcher, lecturer, and consultant in the field of integrative oncology. She assists cancer patients who are interested in integrating complementary medicine approaches with their Western oncology treatment. Her interest in complementary medicine began when she received her B.A. from Harvard University, and it later became the sole focus of her Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley.
Kelly’s dissertation research included a year-long trip around the world, for which she and her husband, Aaron Teich, L.Ac., traveled to ten different countries to interview 50 holistic healers and 20 “spontaneous” remission cancer survivors about their healing practices and techniques. She is currently working on a book for cancer patients that summarizes her research findings. I hope you will find her research helpful.
Hypotheses for Natural Cancer Remission – Part 1
By Kelly A. Turner, Ph.D.
My name is Kelly Turner, PhD, and I’m a cancer consultant and researcher who studies people who heal from cancer without Western medicine, or after Western medicine has failed to remit their cancer. While personally I believe in combining the best of Western (allopathic) and Complementary medicine, as a researcher I study anomalous cases.
For my dissertation research at UC Berkeley, I traveled around the world for a year asking 50 non-allopathic healers from 12 different countries about how they treat cancer. Afterward, I asked 20 cancer survivors who had healed without Western medicine why they thought they healed. After scouring the 70, hour-long interview transcripts for common themes, what emerged were 3 underlying beliefs about cancer, and more than 75 cancer “treatments.”
In this guest blog, I will be discussing the three underlying beliefs about cancer. I will be describing the Top 6 cancer “treatments” used by my interviewees in another guest blog soon at http://www.tamiboehmer.com.
You may also read my full dissertation here: http://www.shuniyahealing.com/offer/research.html
(Note: This study was designed to collect hypotheses. Therefore, please remember that the following “findings” are opinions only).
Belief #1: Change the Conditions under which Cancer Thrives
The majority of my interviewees believed that cancer thrives under certain, sub-optimal conditions in the body. Therefore, to remove cancer, they recommended changing the underlying conditions in the body, at which point the cancer cells would theoretically die off naturally. This is quite different from the Western (allopathic) medicine view that sees cancer cells as “invaders” in an otherwise healthy body. An integrative oncologist from Japan describes his theory as follows:
HEALER (from Japan): Cancer substance is not made by cancer cells, but by human beings. And the cancer substance to change is not cancer cells, but human beings. Bad circulation and low [body] temperature – cancer cells never created [those] conditions. Human beings themselves created [those] bad circumstances.
KELLY: So it’s the bad circumstances that human beings create in their body that allow the cancer cells to grow?
HEALER (from Japan): Yes. So, my understanding is cancer cell is not malignant cell, but sacrificed/delinquent cell…adapted to the wrong circumstances…In our body, cancer cells never arise up in a heart or small intestine, because these heart and small intestine are warm and high [in] blood and high content of oxygen. Small intestine and heart is good circumstance, so [they have a] small percentage [of cancer] – [it is] very unusual for cancer [to appear in those organs].
Belief #2: Illness = Blockage/Slowness, Health = Movement
The majority of my 70 interviewees also believed that any illness – including cancer – represents a blockage or slowness in the system, while health is characterized by unhindered movement and flow. The theory is that when everything is flowing smoothly – your breath, blood, food, waste, emotions, and even your energy – then your body will be healthy and able to remove any bacteria, virus, etc. that enters your body. One woman who healed herself of metastatic pancreatic cancer said it this way:
“I think the etheric body – the energy body – organizes the physical body based on thoughts or emotions that are either flowing or blocked. So as long as emotions and thoughts are positive and flowing…then the physical body is holding a state of greater balance. As soon as the thoughts become low frequency thoughts, or our emotions become low frequency emotions, then the energy tends to jam up or get blocked in the auric field. And when it blocks up enough, it first creates discomfort…When nothing is done to release those emotions or thoughts, or to change them, eventually it moves into the etheric field and sometimes even into the physical body, and that’s what causes what I call ‘dis-ease.’ And again, it’s still just energy that’s stuck.”
Belief #3: A Body-Mind-Spirit Interaction Exists, and “Energy” Permeates All Three
The third and final underlying belief that the majority of my interviewees discussed was the idea that a body-mind-spirit interaction exists, and that energy (also called “chi” or “prana”) permeates all three of these levels. A chi-gong healer from New Zealand, who is also a colon cancer survivor, said it this way:
“They say a person is made up of your physical body and your ‘shen’ – which [in Traditional Chinese Medicine] is your consciousness or spirit – and then ‘chi’ is the thing that connects the ‘shen’ and your physical body. So those three will work together and are one, really, but the key thing to remember is that the ‘shen’ leads the ‘chi,’ so your consciousness, or where the mind is going, is where your chi is going, and that begets your physical body. So if your ‘shen’ is really busy and very emotional, you know going up and down, that really depletes your chi, and that leads to disease or breakdown.”
From the Author:
I am always looking for more cancer survivors to interview for my research. If you know of any that fit my research criteria, please invite them to email me at kellyturner@ShuniyaHealing.com. To learn more about the benefits of complementary therapies, please visit: http://www.ShuniyaHealing.com.
Elyn Jacobs
elyn@elynjacobs.com
elynjacobs.blogspot.com
**********************************************************
Elyn Jacobs is President of Elyn Jacobs Consulting, Inc. and a breast cancer survivor. She empowers women diagnosed with cancer to navigate the process of treatment and care, and she educates about how to prevent recurrence and new cancers. She is passionate about helping others get past their cancer and into a cancer-free life.
Kelly’s dissertation research included a year-long trip around the world, for which she and her husband, Aaron Teich, L.Ac., traveled to ten different countries to interview 50 holistic healers and 20 “spontaneous” remission cancer survivors about their healing practices and techniques. She is currently working on a book for cancer patients that summarizes her research findings. I hope you will find her research helpful.
Hypotheses for Natural Cancer Remission – Part 1
By Kelly A. Turner, Ph.D.
My name is Kelly Turner, PhD, and I’m a cancer consultant and researcher who studies people who heal from cancer without Western medicine, or after Western medicine has failed to remit their cancer. While personally I believe in combining the best of Western (allopathic) and Complementary medicine, as a researcher I study anomalous cases.
For my dissertation research at UC Berkeley, I traveled around the world for a year asking 50 non-allopathic healers from 12 different countries about how they treat cancer. Afterward, I asked 20 cancer survivors who had healed without Western medicine why they thought they healed. After scouring the 70, hour-long interview transcripts for common themes, what emerged were 3 underlying beliefs about cancer, and more than 75 cancer “treatments.”
In this guest blog, I will be discussing the three underlying beliefs about cancer. I will be describing the Top 6 cancer “treatments” used by my interviewees in another guest blog soon at http://www.tamiboehmer.com.
You may also read my full dissertation here: http://www.shuniyahealing.com/offer/research.html
(Note: This study was designed to collect hypotheses. Therefore, please remember that the following “findings” are opinions only).
Belief #1: Change the Conditions under which Cancer Thrives
The majority of my interviewees believed that cancer thrives under certain, sub-optimal conditions in the body. Therefore, to remove cancer, they recommended changing the underlying conditions in the body, at which point the cancer cells would theoretically die off naturally. This is quite different from the Western (allopathic) medicine view that sees cancer cells as “invaders” in an otherwise healthy body. An integrative oncologist from Japan describes his theory as follows:
HEALER (from Japan): Cancer substance is not made by cancer cells, but by human beings. And the cancer substance to change is not cancer cells, but human beings. Bad circulation and low [body] temperature – cancer cells never created [those] conditions. Human beings themselves created [those] bad circumstances.
KELLY: So it’s the bad circumstances that human beings create in their body that allow the cancer cells to grow?
HEALER (from Japan): Yes. So, my understanding is cancer cell is not malignant cell, but sacrificed/delinquent cell…adapted to the wrong circumstances…In our body, cancer cells never arise up in a heart or small intestine, because these heart and small intestine are warm and high [in] blood and high content of oxygen. Small intestine and heart is good circumstance, so [they have a] small percentage [of cancer] – [it is] very unusual for cancer [to appear in those organs].
Belief #2: Illness = Blockage/Slowness, Health = Movement
The majority of my 70 interviewees also believed that any illness – including cancer – represents a blockage or slowness in the system, while health is characterized by unhindered movement and flow. The theory is that when everything is flowing smoothly – your breath, blood, food, waste, emotions, and even your energy – then your body will be healthy and able to remove any bacteria, virus, etc. that enters your body. One woman who healed herself of metastatic pancreatic cancer said it this way:
“I think the etheric body – the energy body – organizes the physical body based on thoughts or emotions that are either flowing or blocked. So as long as emotions and thoughts are positive and flowing…then the physical body is holding a state of greater balance. As soon as the thoughts become low frequency thoughts, or our emotions become low frequency emotions, then the energy tends to jam up or get blocked in the auric field. And when it blocks up enough, it first creates discomfort…When nothing is done to release those emotions or thoughts, or to change them, eventually it moves into the etheric field and sometimes even into the physical body, and that’s what causes what I call ‘dis-ease.’ And again, it’s still just energy that’s stuck.”
Belief #3: A Body-Mind-Spirit Interaction Exists, and “Energy” Permeates All Three
The third and final underlying belief that the majority of my interviewees discussed was the idea that a body-mind-spirit interaction exists, and that energy (also called “chi” or “prana”) permeates all three of these levels. A chi-gong healer from New Zealand, who is also a colon cancer survivor, said it this way:
“They say a person is made up of your physical body and your ‘shen’ – which [in Traditional Chinese Medicine] is your consciousness or spirit – and then ‘chi’ is the thing that connects the ‘shen’ and your physical body. So those three will work together and are one, really, but the key thing to remember is that the ‘shen’ leads the ‘chi,’ so your consciousness, or where the mind is going, is where your chi is going, and that begets your physical body. So if your ‘shen’ is really busy and very emotional, you know going up and down, that really depletes your chi, and that leads to disease or breakdown.”
From the Author:
I am always looking for more cancer survivors to interview for my research. If you know of any that fit my research criteria, please invite them to email me at kellyturner@ShuniyaHealing.com. To learn more about the benefits of complementary therapies, please visit: http://www.ShuniyaHealing.com.
Elyn Jacobs
elyn@elynjacobs.com
elynjacobs.blogspot.com
**********************************************************
Elyn Jacobs is President of Elyn Jacobs Consulting, Inc. and a breast cancer survivor. She empowers women diagnosed with cancer to navigate the process of treatment and care, and she educates about how to prevent recurrence and new cancers. She is passionate about helping others get past their cancer and into a cancer-free life.
The "Message"
At what point do you start disregarding facts entirely and start arguing about made up stuff? The farcical national conversation about the Stimulus could be "Exhibit A."
For what it is worth, the Stimulus was a disaster - a political disaster, especially for Democrats and Keynesians. Facing a looming economic catastrophe as our nation's people collectively maxed out their personal debt financed by banks who were maxing out theirs, the government had to spend money it didn't have to avoid getting us into a depression. That money combined with the vaporization of several trillion dollars in Monopoly-money wealth our nation didn't actually have to create some pretty gnarly budget deficits and government debt.
But, instead of hammering home each stimulus need individually (we need $200 billion for infrastructure - who doesn't like planes, trains, and automobiles?; we need $100 billion for schools - who doesn't think children should read?; we need $2 billion for alternative energy sources - who doesn't want cheap, renewable energy? etc.) the brainiacs in charge decided to completely ignore political reality, lump everything together and not talk about it.
Opponents were suddenly free to parade the words "omnibus" and "stimulus" around while waving the total price tag aloft, declaring we were getting this money from "our children." They found endless anecdotes and examples of "pork." Some were real, some were made up, and some were actually valuable government programs that monitor things like floods. It didn't matter what it was, there was so much in the bill it forced most Americans to rely on the lazy media to tell them. We all know how that turns out.
Now, a media-savvy Democratic Congress could have owned the news cycles and won political victories for two straight years just passing parts of the whole. They probably could have got more money for the big stuff, too. All those folks who later argued "the stimulus didn't work because it wasn't big enough," political problems in their own right, simply didn't understand how to gain political support to justify those additional expenditures.
But, noooo, Nancy Pelosi had a chance to destroy the GOP opposition on a host of issues the majority of Americans already agreed with her about and decided instead to do it in a way that actually turned Americans against the program, the party, and drove them into the waiting arms of a "Tea Party" ready to capitalize off the cultural and economic panic being felt across the country. GOP governors across the land decried the bill while taking the cash, and never paid a political price for it. Why would they? They were counting millions while the "Stimulus Ins't Big Enough" crowd took to the Op-Ed pages of the New York Times and got busy telling Americans the stimulus didn't work and that they needed more money.
That moment of decision, when the Democrats decided they didn't need to convince the American voters to agree with them, was when they lost the national argument over how to do something about the economic collapse. That was the moment they decided they would never get another chance to use Keynesian theories to save this economy, and that they'd never get a political chance to recover until the GOP allowed them to have one. That was the moment they assumed blame for the "stimulus didn't work" narrative, and they are still paying for it today.
.
For what it is worth, the Stimulus was a disaster - a political disaster, especially for Democrats and Keynesians. Facing a looming economic catastrophe as our nation's people collectively maxed out their personal debt financed by banks who were maxing out theirs, the government had to spend money it didn't have to avoid getting us into a depression. That money combined with the vaporization of several trillion dollars in Monopoly-money wealth our nation didn't actually have to create some pretty gnarly budget deficits and government debt.
But, instead of hammering home each stimulus need individually (we need $200 billion for infrastructure - who doesn't like planes, trains, and automobiles?; we need $100 billion for schools - who doesn't think children should read?; we need $2 billion for alternative energy sources - who doesn't want cheap, renewable energy? etc.) the brainiacs in charge decided to completely ignore political reality, lump everything together and not talk about it.
Opponents were suddenly free to parade the words "omnibus" and "stimulus" around while waving the total price tag aloft, declaring we were getting this money from "our children." They found endless anecdotes and examples of "pork." Some were real, some were made up, and some were actually valuable government programs that monitor things like floods. It didn't matter what it was, there was so much in the bill it forced most Americans to rely on the lazy media to tell them. We all know how that turns out.
Now, a media-savvy Democratic Congress could have owned the news cycles and won political victories for two straight years just passing parts of the whole. They probably could have got more money for the big stuff, too. All those folks who later argued "the stimulus didn't work because it wasn't big enough," political problems in their own right, simply didn't understand how to gain political support to justify those additional expenditures.
But, noooo, Nancy Pelosi had a chance to destroy the GOP opposition on a host of issues the majority of Americans already agreed with her about and decided instead to do it in a way that actually turned Americans against the program, the party, and drove them into the waiting arms of a "Tea Party" ready to capitalize off the cultural and economic panic being felt across the country. GOP governors across the land decried the bill while taking the cash, and never paid a political price for it. Why would they? They were counting millions while the "Stimulus Ins't Big Enough" crowd took to the Op-Ed pages of the New York Times and got busy telling Americans the stimulus didn't work and that they needed more money.
That moment of decision, when the Democrats decided they didn't need to convince the American voters to agree with them, was when they lost the national argument over how to do something about the economic collapse. That was the moment they decided they would never get another chance to use Keynesian theories to save this economy, and that they'd never get a political chance to recover until the GOP allowed them to have one. That was the moment they assumed blame for the "stimulus didn't work" narrative, and they are still paying for it today.
.
Know Your Rights
I make a habit out of watching the show COPS, and counting all the things that are done wrong by (sometimes) the police and (most of the time) by the suspects. I really have always found it amazing how many people will let the police search their car during a traffic stop because they asked to.
Darnell Dockett of the Arizona Cardinals, however, refuses to be played in such a way. (HT: EDSBS)
I remember the first time I refused a search during a traffic stop, even the officer was like "Really? Wow. Well, you're within your rights to refuse."
.
Darnell Dockett of the Arizona Cardinals, however, refuses to be played in such a way. (HT: EDSBS)
I remember the first time I refused a search during a traffic stop, even the officer was like "Really? Wow. Well, you're within your rights to refuse."
.
Systems Failure
Patrick Appel at the Daily Dish ponders how little protections are afforded at-risk populations.
Looking at the story as is, this seems like a case of many patholgies that are crushing our society these days under weight of our own making.
The race and economic status of the guy thrown in jail. The bank incompetently refusing to honor its own check, and its inability to verify that check's accuracy in house. The inability of a criminal justice system to work swiftly while the parking police can sweep down and impound a car in a matter of hours. The litigation for the damage this has done to one man's life is dragging along. For want of a nail...
.
Looking at the story as is, this seems like a case of many patholgies that are crushing our society these days under weight of our own making.
The race and economic status of the guy thrown in jail. The bank incompetently refusing to honor its own check, and its inability to verify that check's accuracy in house. The inability of a criminal justice system to work swiftly while the parking police can sweep down and impound a car in a matter of hours. The litigation for the damage this has done to one man's life is dragging along. For want of a nail...
.
1,179 Visitors in a Single Day
According to Google Analytics, my Deviations website received 1,179 visitors on July 9. Thanks to everyone who stopped by, and Welcome! Click here to reach my blog entry showing alternate free download sites.
The flat line preceding Saturday's blast off is due to the Deviations website being unavailable until July 1 because I had exceeded my bandwidth. The same now seems to be happening again -- hence my "Redirecting Traffic" entry -- though another 396 visits came through on Sunday.
Thanks to Free Kindle Books and Tips for showcasing the series. That nod sent 327 visits my way over the weekend. And thanks to K.L. Nappier for recommending my work to Pixel of Ink.
(Kathy and I are each other's fans. I have devoured her supernatural thrillers Full Wolf Moon and its sequel, Bitten, losing sleep because I couldn't put them down. Neither could I put down her paranormal mystery Voyagers, a different genre from what I usually read. Her character development, world-building, social commentary, and pacing pull me right in.)
'Shroom With A View
My yard work on Saturday revealed a crop of mushrooms.
(Note: My yard is not exactly what one would call the woods, as per Sunday Scribblings Prompt #275, but it can come close. Here in Florida, the birds poop trees that spring up in short order. I recently had several removed because they encroached on wires and roof, to the point of deforming gutters. My place ends up looking like an extension of Withlacoochie State Forest if left unchecked.)
Behind the mushroom above, you can see the oak that Mary had grown from an acorn dropped in 2003. (Click here for a full shot of the tree in our side yard, taken a bit over a year ago.)
Here's a close-up of the underside of the cap:
Not far away, closer to our volunteer saltbushes, was this specimen:
And this one:
Swing to the front yard, where these grow in the shade of loropetalum:
A volunteer cherry tree grows by the back porch. I daresay it is feeding many birds right now:
This shot is admittedly overexposed, but I like the look of it. Here's the same thing with edge effects added, and with brightness, contrast, and gamma tweaked:
The same view, photographed with a more realistic exposure setting:
Tamoxifen, Friend or Foe?
I follow many, many blogs and cancer-related online chat forums. One I saw today really stung. A woman asked if anyone taking Tamoxifen had ever experienced debilitating bilateral posterior leg pain and the inability to walk or sit without intense pain. She mentioned that she had done all the tests, MRIs, x-rays, etc. with no resulting explanation for her pain. She added that her doctor took her off the Tam and her symptoms subsided significantly. Another woman mentioned that issue plus a host of others, including a persistent and unexplained cough.
Well, I have been on Tam for four years, and three years ago I started experiencing intense pain while sitting, then found it very painful to walk. I saw one doc, told me pelvic misalignment was the issue, and after a few of his treatments, I got worse, I could only walk if I dragged one leg. So much for him. Saw another Doc, said it was two torn hamstring muscles, the left side being severe. I explained that this was unlikely as surely I would have known when this happened (something like a sudden sharp pain would be memorable). However, I was desperate to walk so I agreed to try his “treatment”, a painful and useless platelet procedure. No change. Saw another Doc, he viewed the same MRI results and said that it wasn’t a hamstring issue, it was a disc issue. He offered another painful procedure. This time I was not gullible and refused. He then suggested physical therapy. No change. Next I consulted an integrative chiropractor; he suggested misalignment and stress being the culprit. I will never know if he was right, but after a year of his treatments and the massage therapy he suggested, I am fine. Was it the Tam? Who knows, but I am starting to think so.
And then there’s the cough…..
In December 2010, I started coughing. Still coughing a few months later, I went to my Internist and since I felt otherwise fine, he suspected lung cancer. Thankfully the tests were negative, and he suggested it could be asthma and allergies. Okay, so that makes sense. I started to believe maybe he was right, and that perhaps my mother’s chronic cough could have been that too, undiagnosed. Now, I am not so sure…..was it, is it the Tam? I will have to take this up with my oncologists, but so far, NONE of my doctors suggested this could be the culprit. It’s well known that bone and joint pain can be common, but not the type of pain at issue here. I’d like to think that they are simply not aware of the connection as I happen to have much respect for my doctors…..at the moment.
Perhaps it is all coincidence. Perhaps not. However, one thing I do know is that before an oncologist so quickly orders Tam, AI’s or Chemo for that matter, more needs to be learned and side effects/symptoms taken seriously. I would hate to think that I spent thousands and thousands of dollars and endured years in pain dealing with problems that could have been eliminated by stopping the Tam. Are my symptoms a small price to pay for avoiding recurrence? Maybe, but again….quality of life doesn’t seem to concern most doctors….maybe it’s time they started teaching this in med school. One last note….did I mention that inflammation increases the risk for recurrence….humm….wonder how much of it I’m hosting in my chest, legs, and derriere. Prevention should not be part of the problem.
To read more the possible side effects of Tamoxifen, please view:
http://www.drugs.com/sfx/tamoxifen-side-effects.html
Elyn Jacobs
elyn@elynjacobs.com
elynjacobs.blogspot.com
**********************************************************
Elyn Jacobs is President of Elyn Jacobs Consulting, Inc. and a breast cancer survivor. She empowers women diagnosed with cancer to navigate the process of treatment and care, and she educates about how to prevent recurrence and new cancers. She is passionate about helping others get past their cancer and into a cancer-free life.
Well, I have been on Tam for four years, and three years ago I started experiencing intense pain while sitting, then found it very painful to walk. I saw one doc, told me pelvic misalignment was the issue, and after a few of his treatments, I got worse, I could only walk if I dragged one leg. So much for him. Saw another Doc, said it was two torn hamstring muscles, the left side being severe. I explained that this was unlikely as surely I would have known when this happened (something like a sudden sharp pain would be memorable). However, I was desperate to walk so I agreed to try his “treatment”, a painful and useless platelet procedure. No change. Saw another Doc, he viewed the same MRI results and said that it wasn’t a hamstring issue, it was a disc issue. He offered another painful procedure. This time I was not gullible and refused. He then suggested physical therapy. No change. Next I consulted an integrative chiropractor; he suggested misalignment and stress being the culprit. I will never know if he was right, but after a year of his treatments and the massage therapy he suggested, I am fine. Was it the Tam? Who knows, but I am starting to think so.
And then there’s the cough…..
In December 2010, I started coughing. Still coughing a few months later, I went to my Internist and since I felt otherwise fine, he suspected lung cancer. Thankfully the tests were negative, and he suggested it could be asthma and allergies. Okay, so that makes sense. I started to believe maybe he was right, and that perhaps my mother’s chronic cough could have been that too, undiagnosed. Now, I am not so sure…..was it, is it the Tam? I will have to take this up with my oncologists, but so far, NONE of my doctors suggested this could be the culprit. It’s well known that bone and joint pain can be common, but not the type of pain at issue here. I’d like to think that they are simply not aware of the connection as I happen to have much respect for my doctors…..at the moment.
Perhaps it is all coincidence. Perhaps not. However, one thing I do know is that before an oncologist so quickly orders Tam, AI’s or Chemo for that matter, more needs to be learned and side effects/symptoms taken seriously. I would hate to think that I spent thousands and thousands of dollars and endured years in pain dealing with problems that could have been eliminated by stopping the Tam. Are my symptoms a small price to pay for avoiding recurrence? Maybe, but again….quality of life doesn’t seem to concern most doctors….maybe it’s time they started teaching this in med school. One last note….did I mention that inflammation increases the risk for recurrence….humm….wonder how much of it I’m hosting in my chest, legs, and derriere. Prevention should not be part of the problem.
To read more the possible side effects of Tamoxifen, please view:
http://www.drugs.com/sfx/tamoxifen-side-effects.html
Elyn Jacobs
elyn@elynjacobs.com
elynjacobs.blogspot.com
**********************************************************
Elyn Jacobs is President of Elyn Jacobs Consulting, Inc. and a breast cancer survivor. She empowers women diagnosed with cancer to navigate the process of treatment and care, and she educates about how to prevent recurrence and new cancers. She is passionate about helping others get past their cancer and into a cancer-free life.
Stand Clear of the Closing Doors
Today I am excited to share a guest post by Johnny Cathcart, a 2x childhood brain cancer survivor, award winning filmmaker and author. At 23 years old, he published his book “Hotpants….a memoir,” detailing his journey through cancer and beyond. He currently resides in New York City where he works as a freelance writer, videographer and editor, but his dream is to be a full-time author and filmmaker. I hope you get your dream Johnny, you’ve certainly earned it!
Stand Clear of the Closing Doors Please
“The year just flew by didn’t it?” “Has it been that long already?” “I climb the mountain, turn around, and I see my reflection in the snow covered hills…” So we’ve all heard some rendition of that statement, in all different contexts of life. Not just from the Dixie Chicks, but work, family… old high school friends, in our minds. Think back to elementary school. Time didn’t fly back then! I remember getting up, cartoons and cereal adventures in the morning, the looong day at school, all of the classes, recess, friends, walk home time, then riding bikes, and the hours of intense fun. Then there was family dinner, prayers, and a cartoon or two before bedtime. The year was nice and very slow. Remember? The swing set drama? Then there were all the high school stresses while working our way through the social mazes. Even college years seemed slower and more full than now. Though, since I popped out the long chute into the rock hard workforce world… the sun sets the minute it rises, morning coffee and evening cabernet become one, and the snow that falls melts to summer before it kisses my rapidly aging skin cells. What happened to that moment that is forever stuck in iPhoto now?
Well, ten years ago I had walked out of St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis for the last time as a full time cancer patient. I was 15. Every so often I had been visiting for checkups; less and less as the years progressed, and 6/25/2011 will be my last check up ever. Recently my mom reminded me over the phone that after the 25th, if everything is still fine, then I would be completely discharged from the hospital forever. I sniffled up these thick, spongy tears at that moment. My cancer battle had been a constant struggle for 3 straight years before I was 15, completely turning my life and my family’s life in a different direction. “It’s been 10 years already?”
I think of how it seems like last month when I was blasted with my last radiation treatment. It seems like last week I hugged my college friends for the last time. It really does seem like yesterday when I moved to New York and heard that famous phrase “Stand clear of the closing doors please” for the very first time on the train.
Time is crazy like that isn’t it? Memories collect and bunch together, it all just goes in an instant and all of the sudden you are where you are… and 10 years have gone by. Poof! - iPhoto… It’s not gone though. They’re not just “memories” to hang on a mental shelf. They are building blocks. Every little thing, that one recess, that one detention, that one kiss, that first fight you had with your dorm mate, that first job, etc… all formed who you are now. Every bit of what happened to me, every scraped knee and every moment has made every bit of my character up to this second that I sit here typing at my Bronx apartment. The years totally fly by, but think about it… Reflect on each little thing that happened that made up between 9:00 – 9:15 this morning. When you add that with the conversation at lunchtime, and the unwinding news program on the recliner in the evening, you can think how each of those events, melded together, have become your person and character as it is right now. In other words, though they seem to have flown by, each event of every moment of every day, week, and month is profound and meaningful. “Yeah, I think back on these happenings now, the memories stacked up, and though they seem to have flown by, when I reflect on how each event has built up to me today, it all seems more filled, a nice full life time.” Has it been 10 years already?
Johnny was the videographer for a You Tube interview I did for www.TalkAboutHealth.com , featuring Ann Fonfa, Founder of the Annie Appleseed Project. To view the most recent clip, please view: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPrBlhdI_Pk&feature=channel_video_title
To read more of Johnny’s work, please visit: http://vimeo.com/johnnycathcart
To Read about Johnny's book, please visit: johnnyhp.com
Elyn Jacobs
elyn@elynjacobs.com
http://elynjacobs.blogspot.com
*********************************************************
Elyn Jacobs is President of Elyn Jacobs Consulting, Inc. and a breast cancer survivor. She empowers women diagnosed with cancer to navigate the process of treatment and care, and she educates about how to prevent recurrence and new cancers. She is passionate about helping others get past their cancer and into a cancer-free life.
Stand Clear of the Closing Doors Please
“The year just flew by didn’t it?” “Has it been that long already?” “I climb the mountain, turn around, and I see my reflection in the snow covered hills…” So we’ve all heard some rendition of that statement, in all different contexts of life. Not just from the Dixie Chicks, but work, family… old high school friends, in our minds. Think back to elementary school. Time didn’t fly back then! I remember getting up, cartoons and cereal adventures in the morning, the looong day at school, all of the classes, recess, friends, walk home time, then riding bikes, and the hours of intense fun. Then there was family dinner, prayers, and a cartoon or two before bedtime. The year was nice and very slow. Remember? The swing set drama? Then there were all the high school stresses while working our way through the social mazes. Even college years seemed slower and more full than now. Though, since I popped out the long chute into the rock hard workforce world… the sun sets the minute it rises, morning coffee and evening cabernet become one, and the snow that falls melts to summer before it kisses my rapidly aging skin cells. What happened to that moment that is forever stuck in iPhoto now?
Well, ten years ago I had walked out of St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis for the last time as a full time cancer patient. I was 15. Every so often I had been visiting for checkups; less and less as the years progressed, and 6/25/2011 will be my last check up ever. Recently my mom reminded me over the phone that after the 25th, if everything is still fine, then I would be completely discharged from the hospital forever. I sniffled up these thick, spongy tears at that moment. My cancer battle had been a constant struggle for 3 straight years before I was 15, completely turning my life and my family’s life in a different direction. “It’s been 10 years already?”
I think of how it seems like last month when I was blasted with my last radiation treatment. It seems like last week I hugged my college friends for the last time. It really does seem like yesterday when I moved to New York and heard that famous phrase “Stand clear of the closing doors please” for the very first time on the train.
Time is crazy like that isn’t it? Memories collect and bunch together, it all just goes in an instant and all of the sudden you are where you are… and 10 years have gone by. Poof! - iPhoto… It’s not gone though. They’re not just “memories” to hang on a mental shelf. They are building blocks. Every little thing, that one recess, that one detention, that one kiss, that first fight you had with your dorm mate, that first job, etc… all formed who you are now. Every bit of what happened to me, every scraped knee and every moment has made every bit of my character up to this second that I sit here typing at my Bronx apartment. The years totally fly by, but think about it… Reflect on each little thing that happened that made up between 9:00 – 9:15 this morning. When you add that with the conversation at lunchtime, and the unwinding news program on the recliner in the evening, you can think how each of those events, melded together, have become your person and character as it is right now. In other words, though they seem to have flown by, each event of every moment of every day, week, and month is profound and meaningful. “Yeah, I think back on these happenings now, the memories stacked up, and though they seem to have flown by, when I reflect on how each event has built up to me today, it all seems more filled, a nice full life time.” Has it been 10 years already?
Johnny was the videographer for a You Tube interview I did for www.TalkAboutHealth.com , featuring Ann Fonfa, Founder of the Annie Appleseed Project. To view the most recent clip, please view: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPrBlhdI_Pk&feature=channel_video_title
To read more of Johnny’s work, please visit: http://vimeo.com/johnnycathcart
To Read about Johnny's book, please visit: johnnyhp.com
Elyn Jacobs
elyn@elynjacobs.com
http://elynjacobs.blogspot.com
*********************************************************
Elyn Jacobs is President of Elyn Jacobs Consulting, Inc. and a breast cancer survivor. She empowers women diagnosed with cancer to navigate the process of treatment and care, and she educates about how to prevent recurrence and new cancers. She is passionate about helping others get past their cancer and into a cancer-free life.
"An Odd Protest Movement"
David Brooks at the NYT wonders if the Republicans are normal. In discussing negotiations over raising the debt limit, he praises the political victories won by the GOP, but worries they will throw all that away at the altar of the Tax-Cut religion.
I still think the GOP is behaving in this way to more strongly negotiate with Democrats who have proven time and again that they will give away the store in order to avoid Republican political marketing in the next election (that they will face anyway). The GOP has no reason to believe that the Democrats will draw a line in the sand and start making them pay the political price for their own policies because they haven't done so since the Kennedy administration. What evidence do the Republicans have that now will be different?
HT: Andrew Sullivan, and Patrick Appel.
But here's the problem: even if the GOP does take this nation to default, they will not pay a political price for it. They own the national narrative, and can (and will) lay it all at the feet of the Democrats. They control the redistricting process, and have built themselves safe seats under any circumstamances. Past political organization decisions on the part of the GOP (focus on suburbs, exurbs and rural areas) and Democrats (abandon suburbs, exurbs and rural areas) mean the Dems have no political infrastructure in a majority of Congressional districts. The Dems simply have no political answer to make to GOP mandated default. None.
And that gives this "odd protest movement" more leverage than they know what to do with.
.
[We] can have no confidence that the Republicans will seize this opportunity. That’s because the Republican Party may no longer be a normal party. Over the past few years, it has been infected by a faction that is more of a psychological protest than a practical, governing alternative.
I still think the GOP is behaving in this way to more strongly negotiate with Democrats who have proven time and again that they will give away the store in order to avoid Republican political marketing in the next election (that they will face anyway). The GOP has no reason to believe that the Democrats will draw a line in the sand and start making them pay the political price for their own policies because they haven't done so since the Kennedy administration. What evidence do the Republicans have that now will be different?
HT: Andrew Sullivan, and Patrick Appel.
But here's the problem: even if the GOP does take this nation to default, they will not pay a political price for it. They own the national narrative, and can (and will) lay it all at the feet of the Democrats. They control the redistricting process, and have built themselves safe seats under any circumstamances. Past political organization decisions on the part of the GOP (focus on suburbs, exurbs and rural areas) and Democrats (abandon suburbs, exurbs and rural areas) mean the Dems have no political infrastructure in a majority of Congressional districts. The Dems simply have no political answer to make to GOP mandated default. None.
And that gives this "odd protest movement" more leverage than they know what to do with.
.
Festivities in Inverness
On July 3, 2011, I attended the Patriotic Evening celebration in Inverness, FL. Click here for the city's report on last year's event.
This marked my first time at the celebration. I joined the Citrus County chapter of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) at Liberty Park. We did a brisk business selling Gatorade, iced tea, sausage (pork and turkey) with onions and peppers, and fabulous chocolate oatmeal cookies. Our booth also offered literature on NAMI, The Centers, and The Light House, an ICCD-certified clubhouse.
Liberty Park had filled with numerous vendors and civic associations. The event included children's games, color guard, a salute to veterans, concert, and fireworks. People started gathering shortly after 5 p.m. ...
... and kept gathering as dusk fell.
Not caught on camera were the numerous bats that came out for a meal at this time, sparing us the appetites of mosquitoes. I also spotted the occasional dragonfly.
Soon, the Neon Truckers were up and performing.
They provided the lead-in for a stunning fireworks display lasting almost half an hour.
This shot is from the fireworks finale. I've also posted a video of part of the display.
Shortly after the fireworks display began, I spotted (around 9:35 as I checked my watch) what I at first thought was a low-flying and bright plane emerging from the northwest, on course to pass directly above the fireworks. That would give its occupants one terrific view. As I continued watching, I realized that it didn't blink at all and moved at a steady pace. Unlike a plane, it dimmed and faded from view before it had finished "crossing" the sky, and I knew I'd watched an artificial satellite. I estimated its maximum altitude off the horizon at around 45 degrees.
I had never seen an artificial satellite as bright as this one. Based on data at Heavens Above, it may have been the International Space Station. Here's the ISS path from my location:
Image credit: Heavens Above
Time of maximum altitude: 9:36:42 p.m. (21:36:42) at 40 degrees, fading into the Earth's shadow at 9:38:14. Terrific view, indeed!
Revisionism Kills
Michael Tomasky at the Daily Beast explains one right-wing tactic that's importance always seems to escape the progressives, liberals and Democrats: the revisionism complete and utter re-engineering of common American History.
Why is acceptance of a common history important? I'll use the example of the libertarian fantasies surrounding the Civil Rights Act.
It isn't just the left that gets snowed by this sort of thing. When Rand Paul got into a mess about the Civil Rights Act, a lot of older conservatives I spoke to (like my Dad) thought he was a kook who would never win that election. There was simply a refusal on their part to believe me when I told them that, far from losing that election, by getting involved in that "controversey" he had ensured his evenutal win. When the media got involved and talked about those views for a few days, they must have been shocked to find out how uncontroversial many viewers found Paul's position. They kept trying to play Maddow's gotcha moment into something beyond the left wing internets. They failed. They failed badly. And they've never seemed to understand why.
Now Paul's father Ron has been able to discuss his position about the law at length with hardly a notice, and every time this issue is brought up it is discussed in terms of government intrusion into business.
In the larger context, a fair number of voters start to question whether government intervention was necessary at all in the decisions of private business owners, based on the incredible historical inaccuracy that private businesses would have integrated peacefully without being coerced by government intrusion or the howling mad historical "theory" that private businesses would have integrated peacefully if governments hadn't specifically required them to discriminate.
Make no mistake, this demonstrates a stunning, jaw-dropping ignorance of historical racial, legal, cultural, and economic conditions that dominated this country from British colonization to around the Reagan administration. We still find pockets of that cancerous economic discrimination, and we are damn sure dealing with the economic, cultural, and social legacy of that discrimination.
Part of it is the understandable forward movement of history - the further you get away from a thing, the less present it is in the national conciousness. Part of it is the shame and rationalization of the mainstream population that benefited from the old status quo; everyone wants to fondly remember the "good ole days" when life was simpler and safer and more stable. But you cannot underestimate the effect blatant historical reengineering has on the national conciousness when combined with those preceeding two factors.
Of course, folks on the left tend to recieve the wrong signals from this type of thing and try to hang the "racist" tag around the necks of anyone who would challenge the CRA. That's because folks on the left accept history as a given, tend to think everyone else does as well, and think they don't need to reiterate why the CRA was needed in the first place because of that. Doing so concedes the historical argument to CRA opponents, allowing the popular narrative to completely dismiss the devastating effect of American racial, economic, cultural, legal conditions in the United States, especially post-Reconstruction.
A lot of folks on the left don't get that these people aren't making racial arguments. Instead, they are undermining the history and calling into question the need to discuss racial issues at all. When the liberals take the bait and go after them on race, they walk right into the "crying-racism" punch because the audience isn't primed to discuss race on those terms. That such factors as racial economics could be eliminated from a conversation about the Civil Rights Act is a mere demonstration of how effective it is to challenge common American history, and cut it off at the knees. Remove or confuse the context, and your policy opponents simply cannot contribute. This, of course, fulfills a completely seperate right-wing narrative that liberals are constantly "playing the race card."
The sports analogy to this would be that CRA defenders on the left constantly show up to play a ice hockey game in soccer uniforms and cleats. Then they spend the game wondering why it is so cold in here; why they are unable to move around the field of play or score goals by kicking the puck; and why the referees won't card their opponents for checking them into the walls.
When the right turns to historical reeingineering, the left needs to get into that game. In many cases, the left already won those arguments, and the right is simply inviting them to revisit those victories. When it comes to the CRA, and "libertarians" start utopianizing their fantastic "government coercion of business" theory of racial economics, here's what liberals need to do:
1. Government was coercive, but it wasn't business on the recieving end. Cue up film of Birminham 1963 when Bull Connor turned loose the dogs and fire hoses on black children. Follow that with film and radio from White Citizen's Councils, the "business" and "white collar" wing of the KKK.
2. Government was only following the will of the voting majority. Cue up the film of those segregationist governors leading their people in rallies. Follow that with images of the white race riots that burned over the South in the 1960's.
3. Show how businesses reacted to the thought of integration. White's Only. Colored entrances. Sharecropping. Businesses closing once Jim Crow laws failed.
4. Show how necessary federal government intervention was to tear down Jim Crow. Little Rock. Ole Miss. Alabama. Truman's decisions. Eisenhower's decisions. LBJ's decisions. Kennedy's speeches.
All that needs to be done is to dust off some old footage and replay the old news feeds. Again. And Again. And Again. And Again. Retake history, don't assume people accept it.
.
The standard, non-crazy history we’ve all been taught is being contested every day by Beck and others. Next time you’re on a long-ish drive, flip over to the AM dial and listen to any of the several Christian news-talk stations you’ll find. You will see what I mean. And I’m not talking about arguably controversial liberal assertions about history—Thomas Scopes was a great man, say, or Charles Beard was dead-on about the Constitution. I’m talking about stuff in the grade-school textbooks. The Civil War was caused largely by slavery? Lib propaganda, all of it.
Why is acceptance of a common history important? I'll use the example of the libertarian fantasies surrounding the Civil Rights Act.
It isn't just the left that gets snowed by this sort of thing. When Rand Paul got into a mess about the Civil Rights Act, a lot of older conservatives I spoke to (like my Dad) thought he was a kook who would never win that election. There was simply a refusal on their part to believe me when I told them that, far from losing that election, by getting involved in that "controversey" he had ensured his evenutal win. When the media got involved and talked about those views for a few days, they must have been shocked to find out how uncontroversial many viewers found Paul's position. They kept trying to play Maddow's gotcha moment into something beyond the left wing internets. They failed. They failed badly. And they've never seemed to understand why.
Now Paul's father Ron has been able to discuss his position about the law at length with hardly a notice, and every time this issue is brought up it is discussed in terms of government intrusion into business.
In the larger context, a fair number of voters start to question whether government intervention was necessary at all in the decisions of private business owners, based on the incredible historical inaccuracy that private businesses would have integrated peacefully without being coerced by government intrusion or the howling mad historical "theory" that private businesses would have integrated peacefully if governments hadn't specifically required them to discriminate.
Make no mistake, this demonstrates a stunning, jaw-dropping ignorance of historical racial, legal, cultural, and economic conditions that dominated this country from British colonization to around the Reagan administration. We still find pockets of that cancerous economic discrimination, and we are damn sure dealing with the economic, cultural, and social legacy of that discrimination.
Part of it is the understandable forward movement of history - the further you get away from a thing, the less present it is in the national conciousness. Part of it is the shame and rationalization of the mainstream population that benefited from the old status quo; everyone wants to fondly remember the "good ole days" when life was simpler and safer and more stable. But you cannot underestimate the effect blatant historical reengineering has on the national conciousness when combined with those preceeding two factors.
Of course, folks on the left tend to recieve the wrong signals from this type of thing and try to hang the "racist" tag around the necks of anyone who would challenge the CRA. That's because folks on the left accept history as a given, tend to think everyone else does as well, and think they don't need to reiterate why the CRA was needed in the first place because of that. Doing so concedes the historical argument to CRA opponents, allowing the popular narrative to completely dismiss the devastating effect of American racial, economic, cultural, legal conditions in the United States, especially post-Reconstruction.
A lot of folks on the left don't get that these people aren't making racial arguments. Instead, they are undermining the history and calling into question the need to discuss racial issues at all. When the liberals take the bait and go after them on race, they walk right into the "crying-racism" punch because the audience isn't primed to discuss race on those terms. That such factors as racial economics could be eliminated from a conversation about the Civil Rights Act is a mere demonstration of how effective it is to challenge common American history, and cut it off at the knees. Remove or confuse the context, and your policy opponents simply cannot contribute. This, of course, fulfills a completely seperate right-wing narrative that liberals are constantly "playing the race card."
The sports analogy to this would be that CRA defenders on the left constantly show up to play a ice hockey game in soccer uniforms and cleats. Then they spend the game wondering why it is so cold in here; why they are unable to move around the field of play or score goals by kicking the puck; and why the referees won't card their opponents for checking them into the walls.
When the right turns to historical reeingineering, the left needs to get into that game. In many cases, the left already won those arguments, and the right is simply inviting them to revisit those victories. When it comes to the CRA, and "libertarians" start utopianizing their fantastic "government coercion of business" theory of racial economics, here's what liberals need to do:
1. Government was coercive, but it wasn't business on the recieving end. Cue up film of Birminham 1963 when Bull Connor turned loose the dogs and fire hoses on black children. Follow that with film and radio from White Citizen's Councils, the "business" and "white collar" wing of the KKK.
2. Government was only following the will of the voting majority. Cue up the film of those segregationist governors leading their people in rallies. Follow that with images of the white race riots that burned over the South in the 1960's.
3. Show how businesses reacted to the thought of integration. White's Only. Colored entrances. Sharecropping. Businesses closing once Jim Crow laws failed.
4. Show how necessary federal government intervention was to tear down Jim Crow. Little Rock. Ole Miss. Alabama. Truman's decisions. Eisenhower's decisions. LBJ's decisions. Kennedy's speeches.
All that needs to be done is to dust off some old footage and replay the old news feeds. Again. And Again. And Again. And Again. Retake history, don't assume people accept it.
.
A Black Metal Hurricane
Genre: (Atmospheric) Black Metal
Quality: Mostly 256 or 320kbps
About: I was up one night last week, feeling alone and slightly drunk. I decided to make a playlist for my girlfriend which I've been meaning to do for quite some time. Basically she used to listen to Black Metal but not enough to know bands by name. I also do not know what specific subgenres she listened to... I mainly listen to atmospheric/ambient/melancholic types of black metal, songs that make me FEEL.
So this playlist has songs that I feel are really easy to get into. It's aimed at people who have never tried the genre much or at all. Most of the songs are melodic, atmospheric, folk, and post-black metal... rather than raw, depressive, extreme, etc. If you're a fan of black metal you probably have all of these with the exception of Azeroth, an unknown Russian melodic black metal band (who you should definitely check out - I have the discography on this blog). Or, if you just want to hear a good playlist.
More actual albums coming soon hopefully! My life has been hectic lately. Just wanted to get this playlist on here cause... it's amazing :)
Track List:
1. Moonsorrow - Ukkosenjumalan Poika ... One of the first black metal songs i got into
2. Azeroth - Great Warriors Of Shadows ... This band was so amazing live, and the production is much better than on the studio albums! Also, this song's somewhat boring 3 minute intro is left out.
3. Woods of Desolation - Darker Days ... Current nominee for best song of 2011
4. Agalloch - Falling Snow ... Another band I got into when I first discovered black metal
5. Alcest - Ciel Errant ... Same as above, but it took me quite a while before I started to like this specific song, now it's my favorite by him.
6. Lunar Aurora - Die Quelle Im Wald ... Favorite BM band, really hard to pick a song, I picked it because of the clarinet solo.
7. Drudkh - When the Flame Turns to Ashes ... Again hard to pick a song but I picked this one because of, well the whole song sounds like flame gradually turning into ash!
8. Lantlôs - These Nights Were Ours ... One of the best songs of 2010 especially within this weird ill-defined post-blackened shoegaze genre.
9. Dimmu Borgir - Kings of the Carnival Creation ... I've tried their old stuff (its ok), their new stuff (its ok), but never thought to try the stuff in the middle before now. OH MY GOD.
10. Austere - Just for a moment... I was thinking for a long time that Black Metal and Emo would be complementary, then I found this. I'm not the typical emo/poser-hating metalhead; I listen on occasion. And the line between metal and metalcore is pretty blurry, as is the line between metalcore and posercore... So I just try not to think about it and listen to whatever I like.
Mediafire Download
Please support the musicians that spent so much time, effort, and money to make this great music for you - Buy their albums and go to their concerts (if possible)!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)