I Hold These Truths

I hold these truths to be self evident.
That the seeds of disaster are sown with success.
That sentient beings are equal to the measure of
Their wisdom.

It is not made so by law, not of man or god.
It is not evil that is the enemy, though the enemy
Makes evil.

It is error. Error in fact. Error in perception.
Error in judgment. Error in desire.
Error in belief. Yet we certainly cannot live
Without error.

As food is poison to the glutton,
Undigested, undiscovered , unexamined error
Is poison to the mind.

When we embrace error with great faith
It gets all over us. Eventually it propagates itself
So much that it permeates our very beings.

But the rare soul who can keep wiping off
The error as often as it builds up
And point out the truths that remain,
That soul is our hope, if not our destiny.

The Birds and the Bees

Okay. This is the red light district. Now that I have your full attention, let us talk about two problems. In recent years honeybees have had serious problems with a variety of mite. It damaged a great many colonies but it was a containable problem. It was matter of finding a chemical that would kill the mites but leave the bees unharmed and not contaminate the honey, or at least not enough to be noticed. Well that problem, for whatever reason, pretty much ran out of steam.

Bees are an absolutely essential component in the agriculture which feeds us all. A linchpin of our survival. So there was a collective sigh of relief when that problem abated. But it was premature. We now have a new problem, and it is MUCH more dangerous. The reason it is such an emergency is that we really have no solid clues as to the cause. Therefore we are currently helpless to stop it.

Bees are disappearing. Not just dying in large numbers because of a parasitic infection. Literally disappearing. Whole hives are winding up entirely empty of adult bees. Lots and lots of hives. In periods of a week to a month the adult bees fly off and don't come back. That leaves the eggs and baby bees who can't yet survive in an empty orphanage. The hive is dead. Or I should say, at this time more than one quarter of all hives on the planet have been wiped out.

Now, we have made some progress. We have named the problem. And a really nice name it is. Very professional sounding. Reassuring in a sense. It is called COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER. Much better than IMPENDING WORLDWIDE STARVATION. But the fact remains that worldwide industrial agriculture has roughly ninety or a hundred crops across the entire spectrum of human and animal feedstocks that are absolutely dependent on bee pollination. This is not a problem that just affects beekeepers and honey production.

I should also say that the bees are also responsible for the bulk of the pollination in the rest of the entire ecosystem. So nature herself is threatened further in the ongoing runaway extinction now proceeding at a faster rate than ever in recorded history.

But back to the bees. These communal insects are fiercely protective of the babies in the hive. What would make them just fly away? Some sort of virus that drove them mad? A side effect of some herbicide or insecticide that does them no observable harm? A combination of the two? So far we have spent trivial amounts to find out. Meanwhile, to date we have spent half a TRILLION dollars on a fanatical war against fanatics. And that amount increases astronomically each day. We are getting massively stung, and it is not bees that are doing it. It is the Military Industrial Complex and their pet politicians.

Read here on another thread what President Eisenhower said about this danger in his Farewell to the Nation when he left office FORTY SEVEN YEARS AGO! Bear in mind also that this warning came from a man who was totally immersed in the military for his entire career. He was the highest ranking of all the Generals before he became President. That makes his final words to the nation that much more significant.

Time now to turn our attention to the birds. Birds too are quite important. Chickens provide one of our main meat supplies. There has been a lot of concern over the potential for a global pandemic of Avian Flu (H5N1). That concern is waning now, not because the danger is reduced. It is not.

But we can only pay attention for just so long. We have dodged the bullet for the past few years, so our confidence in our "experts" is increasing. That confidence is not at all well founded. The urgency and numbers of problems continue to proliferate. Most of us are entirely oblivious.

Let us turn our attention to West Nile Fever, another virus of worldwide impact which, like H5N1 affects a wide spectrum of the bird population. And like H5N1 it has already crossed the species barrier into the human population. As a matter of fact West Nile has killed many, many more people than H5N1 (so far). Now, is there any evidence that H5N1 or West Nile may be infecting insects (like bees) as well? Is anyone looking into this possibility? We DO know that West Nile is mosquito borne. Gosh, last I heard, mosquitoes were insects! But there is no evidence that any mosquitoes are getting sick with West Nile fever. They are just carriers. Boy, that IS a relief. I guess it can't have anything to do with the bee crisis. Because otherwise the experts would have already found out about it, wouldn't they?

Oh, a final word about wild birds. Half a dozen major large populations of wild species of birds have had their populations decimated by up to half in the past few years by West Nile Virus. It is not a stretch to think it might jump into our industrial chicken farms. We still don't know exactly how H5N1 is making it into the chicken and hog populations from the wild bird reservoirs. We just know that it is. Any ideas anybody? Hello? Anybody out there? Hello... Hello... Anybody?

Playing Around With Art

Clearly art is ephemeral. I cannot now show you the picture that this post is about.

I think play is the central thing in creativity. In my scientific endeavors I restrain myself from being too goal oriented. There are times when a certain lack of experience in what you are doing is an asset, not a liability. Discoveries are rarely made by people who know for sure exactly what they are doing.

Added:
This picture has now disappeared three times, after it was successfully up. Sort of spooky. I am clueless as to why. Something wrong with my various tinkerings I guess. If it keeps up I could get a little superstitious. (Just kidding.)

Added:
Okay, I have tried repeatedly to post the original, did it on a different browser, (which modified the picture trying to bring it back to something approaching a photograph.) The above is an example. It no longer looks like Andy Warhol was toying around with impressionism. When I went back to my original browser, the new browser jumped back on. So I deleted it from my system.

The original browser originally posted my picture exactly the way I wanted it, but the picture disappeared in an hour or so. Now the remaining browser is correcting in the fashoin of the browser I deleted.

Sometimes I like not knowing what I'm doing, and all the discovery that goes with that. Other times it is just a reminder that my lack of understanding is profound. Maybe I should get a printer that works. I think I have lost the original print which I really liked. I think I will stop and think about the birds and the bees for a while. Keep an eye out for my next post, in which I will say something about the birds and the bees. I promise.

Ron Paul Picture

This is Ron Paul at his desk. It is hard

not to like a guy with this sign on his desk.

Picture of an Old Goat

I just figured out how to post pictures. Now I have to find some pictures that people will look at.

Who is This?

Ron Paul

Nominally a Republican, Ron Paul has a variety of traits which make him of greater interest as a nominee than his fellow candidates. While I am an independent who finds both parties wanting in a variety of ways, I must admit I can only find a few details of his history that give me pause. I know that is faint praise. But so far he seems to be a pretty appealing fellow compared to the other Republican candidates.

A Skeleton Comes Out Of The Closet

Below is a post on Skin Cell Forum made simultaneously here. I was responding to a post quite horrified about terrible abuse of human rights in another culture.

Sometimes it seems that double standards abound. It is easy to think we are the enlightened ones. The truth is, we have a natural tendency to notice the behaviors of cultures or faiths or ideologies which differ from ours and to ignore the horrors right under our noses within our own society.

We should be cleaning our own houses with the same thoroughness that we are prepared to employ on "those others." I am sensitive to the plight of children and of women, and am acutely conscious of having contributed to the problem by my previous inactions. Much of what I do today addresses issues that most others give no thought to at all.

I have spoken frequently here about our broken medical institutions, the pharmaceutical and chemical industries and the criminal (international) government cooperation with these conspiracies, both tacit and active. That is most appropriate for me to do here. This is a health oriented forum.

The rest is perhaps best dealt with on my website in spite of the fact that few people have found it. That is partly my fault. I don't seek dabblers and lurkers.

An isolated example. In recent years we have all seen the damage to the Catholic Church because of the exposure of priestly misbehavior with children, which was repeatedly swept under the rug until it could no longer be contained.

My father was a Presbyterian Minister. Many years ago I wrote a book which dealt with a multitude of crimes that were dealt with by the Presbyterian Church hierarchy in exactly the same way that the Catholics did, by transferring him to new congregations in new churches, with fresh opportunities to prey upon innocents. Law enforcement too had other priorities, perhaps in part because of the influence of the church.

When I originally wrote the book, a number of the people involved were still alive. If any still are, they are probably drooling in their gruel in some rest home. But I did not write it originally for the purpose of publication. It was simply a cathartic effort with which I could exorcise some of my demons.

But I did show it to an agent who had previously provided me with several ghostwriting clients. Without my authorization, he showed it to a publisher who expressed interest. I burned the manuscript on the barbecue.

I had pretty well forgotten about it for over twenty years. Then wave after wave of Catholic scandals kept coming along, and my perspective became, why should they be the only ones on the carpet for what I KNEW was a problem in the Presbyterian church, and which I learned secondhand was also occurring in other churches as well.

About eight years ago I discussed the book with a local Presbyterian Minister. Although it no longer existed, it had taken me about a year to write while I was working on several other projects. To rewrite it would take three or four months.

The Minister was a very skillful fellow. He talked of possible "ramifications" and "cans of worms" and letting "sleeping dogs lie." And of course he made no threats. He only said very vaguely that there were legal considerations that could pose some problems. And of course, since I was agnostic and not even a practicing Presbyterian, what did all this ancient history even matter to me anyway?

That fellow did some very effective sweeping that day, but the dirt still creeps up through the carpet. I am ashamed of him and of the Presbyterian Church and you can quote me. They hypocritically left a lot of victims twisting in the wind.

If you were victimized by a preacher of any denomination, including imam, rabbi, guru, auditor or psychiatrist, who used the position of great power and trust to prey upon you, you need not carry that burden alone.

Farewell by a Great Statesman

My apologies to those who are incurably addicted to sound bites. By your standards, this speech is long, and sound-bites are absent. In spite of our collective attention deficit, here is the entire Farewell Address by President Dwight David Eisenhower. Although this president was not known for his eloquence, neither did people hold their breath in anticipation of his next verbal blunder. Keep your eye on the worry about the military industrial complex becoming an uncontrollable force.

(I have periodically changed copy color in the hope that a few of you will be assisted to persist in your reading and to further draw your attention to the key elements of the message. I wish also to point out, for those of you who did not hear this broadcast as it was given, live, that this was a time of great turbulance and paranoia, as profound for the American citizen and our institutions as any of the purges in distant lands, with many devastating, severe and irrevocable consequences, and well beyond the control of even as great a leader as Eisenhower.) --Anthropositor

President Eisenhower's Farewell Address;

Good evening, my fellow Americans.

First, I should like to express my gratitude to the radio and television networks for the opportunity they have given me over the years to bring reports and messages to our nation. My special thanks go to them for the opportunity of addressing you this evening.

Three days from now, after a half century of service of our country, I shall lay down the responsibilities of office as, in traditional and solemn ceremony, the authority of the Presidency is vested in my successor.

This evening I come to you with a message of leave-taking and farewell, and to share a few final thoughts with you, my countrymen.
Like every other citizen, I wish the new President, and all who will labor with him, Godspeed. I pray that the coming years will be blessed with peace and prosperity for all.

Our people expect their President and the Congress to find essential agreement on questions of great moment, the wise resolution of which will better shape the future of the nation.

My own relations with Congress, which began on a remote and tenuous basis when, long ago, a member of the Senate appointed me to West Point, have since ranged to the intimate during the war and immediate post-war period, and finally to the mutually interdependent during these past eight years.

In this final relationship, the Congress and the Administration have, on most vital issues, cooperated well, to serve the nation well rather than mere partisanship, and so have assured that the business of the nation should go forward. So my official relationship with Congress ends in a feeling on my part, of gratitude that we have been able to do so much together.

We now stand ten years past the midpoint of a century that has witnessed four major wars among great nations. Three of these involved our own country. Despite these holocausts America is today the strongest, the most influential and most productive nation in the world.

Understandably proud of this pre-eminence, we yet realize that America's leadership and prestige depend, not merely upon our unmatched material progress, riches and military strength, but on how we use our power in the interests of world peace and human betterment.

Throughout America's adventure in free government, such basic purposes have been to keep the peace; to foster progress in human achievement, and to enhance liberty, dignity and integrity among peoples and among nations.

To strive for less would be unworthy of a free and religious people.
Any failure traceable to arrogance or our lack of comprehension or readiness to sacrifice would inflict upon us a grievous hurt, both at home and abroad.

Progress toward these noble goals is persistently threatened by the conflict now engulfing the world. It commands our whole attention, absorbs our very beings. We face a hostile ideology global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose, and insidious in method.

Unhappily the danger it poses promises to be of indefinite duration. To meet it successfully, there is called for, not so much the emotional and transitory sacrifices of crisis, but rather those which enable us to carry forward steadily, surely, and without complaint the burdens of a prolonged and complex struggle – with liberty the stake. Only thus shall we remain, despite every provocation, on our charted course toward permanent peace and human betterment.

Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties. A huge increase in the newer elements of our defenses; development of unrealistic programs to cure every ill in agriculture; a dramatic expansion in basic and applied research – these and many other possibilities, each possibly promising in itself, may be suggested as the only way to the road we wish to travel.
A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.

But each proposal must be weighed in light of a broader consideration; the need to maintain balance in and among national programs – balance between the private and the public economy, balance between the cost and hoped for advantages – balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable; balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual; balance between the actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future. Good judgment seeks balance and progress; lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration.


The record of many decades stands as proof that our people and their Government have, in the main, understood these truths and have responded to them well in the face of threat and stress.
But threats, new in kind or degree, constantly arise.
Of these, I mention two only.

A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.

Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.

Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well.

But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions.

Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.

American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions.

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence – economic, political, even spiritual – is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades.

In this revolution, research has become central, it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government.

Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields.

In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.



Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.
The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present – and is gravely to be regarded.

It is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system – ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society.

Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society's future, we – you and I, and our government – must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without asking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.

Down the long lane of the history yet to be written America knows that this world of ours, ever growing smaller, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.

Such a confederation must be one of equals. The weakest must come to the conference table with the same confidence as do we, protected as we are by our moral, economic, and military strength. That table, though scarred by many past frustrations, cannot be abandoned for the certain agony of the battlefield.

Disarmament, with mutual honor and confidence, is a continuing imperative. Together we must learn how to compose differences, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose.

Because this need is so sharp and apparent I confess that I lay down my official responsibilities in this field with a definite sense of disappointment. As one who has witnessed the horror and the lingering sadness of war – as one who knows that another war could utterly destroy this civilization which has been so slowly and painfully built over thousands of years – I wish I could say tonight that a lasting peace is in sight.

Happily, I can say that war has been avoided. Steady progress toward our ultimate goal has been made. But, so much remains to be done. As a private citizen, I shall never cease to do what little I can to help the world advance along that road.

So – in this my last good night to you as your President – I thank you for the many opportunities you have given me for public service in war and peace. I trust that in that service you find some things worthy; as for the rest of it, I know you will find ways to improve performance in the future.
You and I – my fellow citizens – need to be strong in our faith that all nations, under God, will reach the goal of peace with justice. May we be ever unswerving in devotion to principle, confident but humble with power, diligent in pursuit of the Nations' great goals.

To all the peoples of the world, I once more give expression to America's prayerful and continuing aspiration:

We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings; that those who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love.

Now, on Friday noon, I am to become a private citizen. I am proud to do so. I look forward to it.
Thank you, and good night.

Some Thoughts On a Medically Supervised Forum and Some Wider Implications

Last night I posed questions that had to do with structuring of the Med Help Forum. They weren't spam or other such nonsense. They pointed out that the problems I wanted to address could not easily be put into 2000 character sound bites. The questions never made it to the public area of the forum, although they were certainly relevant.

What have I found out? That although doctors are present here, or perhaps because doctors are present here, the way the system is set up only simple questions can be addressed and they can only deal with the health issue at hand, and not with a possible difficulty with the forum format and structure.

Your time is clearly too valuable, your services too greatly in need to have any consideration of such matters from ordinary plebeian individuals.
I understand your need to keep the chatty masses at bay. I really do. And your charitable efforts are to be commended.

Oops, once again my allowable word limit is almost at an end, and clearly I have wasted your time and mine. Guess I'll just write about my experience here on another forum and on my blog.

I had no expectation of censorship of my initial remarks, which were certainly in the public interest. I now regret that I didn't save a copy of them so that I could illustrate with precision what you elected to simply delete without comment.

I no longer have the expectation that you will not delete a thoughtful relevant post. If I err in this perspective I will listen to, and even publish your perspective. Know why? Because censorship is a malignant cancer in the social body.

I have written this with considerable dismay.
Anthropositor

Addition:
Now, a couple of days later, I am still trying to put this in the appropriate perspective. First, why am I even upset? It certainly comes as no surprise to me that this could happen. And certainly, in the name of efficiency, and being able to help the maximum number of people, a certain encouragement of brevity is not really out of line. But the truth is, proper assessment of medical problems does not lend itself to short questions or answers.

Having seen a years worth of comments about intractable health problems on a forum with no doctors ever participating, and read hundreds of comments concluding that doctors made misdiagnoses based on instant assessments of information provided by patients who were not uniformly well equipped to communicate in the first place, I found myself sometimes giving the doctor the benefit of the doubt.

It is really very difficult not to, because we are daily inundated with messages in our commercial media with phrases like "remember, only your doctor can diagnose..." or other such indoctrinations. We consumers collectively, are really incredibly gullible and largely incapable of making our own informed medical assessments and decisions.

So although this started out because of some routine censorship, the real issue is our mindless hero worship of medical professionals, and an unquestioning dependence on them which does not serve us well at all.

Even the smartest, most successful and best educated of us are pervasively inundated in doctrines which we are literally incapable of effectively evaluating or even recognizing. Why would I be so surprised and shocked at the routine censorship on that medical forum? And the doctors themselves and/or their staff, undoubtedly think of themselves as good guys doing good things.

Strange Report

Today the top story was the arrest of a half dozen young conspirators who, over a considerable span of time had been planning and preparing to commit suicidal armed assault against members of our military at Ft. Dix. Now, there are a variety of important and interesting elements of this story but at the moment I am moved to write about one.

I was totally mystified by one thing in three different network reports. I believe that these were pretty representative of news reports across the American spectrum. It was referred to as HOMEGROWN TERROR.

Apparently this phrase came from responsible government officials in response to questions, and there were apparently not too many reporters who read between the lines here. Instead, each commentator lent his own emphasis to this phrase. Lets look at the details.

Six young men. One, a U.S. citizen whose country of origin was Jordan. Four of them were illegal aliens from the former Yugoslavia. And a fellow from Turkey. The common denominator? They were all militant suicidal fanatical Islamic jihadists who got their conditioning and indoctrination from Internet Jihadist evangelical recruiters. I heard nothing in the reports that indicated there was previous exposure to Madrassa schools during the formative years of these young men, but I wouldn't be surprised.

I'll just say this. By no stretch of the imagination would an intelligent perceptive person characterize this as Homegrown Terror. Am I the only one who noticed this?

Message To a Silly Person

On a different thread titled: "I think this soap is working" you posted the following;

My mom begged me to try this soap for my psoriasis. It's called Cyclic Nano silver. I kind of ignored it because what soap can it do for the problem I have? After 2 weeks of dragging my heels, I used it on my face and the back of my hands tonight. After some tingling sensation, I washed it off and some risen patches of psoriasis on my face seemed to be flattened and less reddened. I'm going to try this product for a few days to see if it's beneficial. So far after the first try, it seems to be effective. I'm going to post the feedback on this soon. This particular soap is made up of pure silver in nano size which makes it able to permeate into the pores and clean out bacteria and fungi. It is supposed to be highly effective on acne and eczema skin.I also tried tinactin (anti fungi ointment) on this one red spot after I read some old post by some high school student who tried it and saw big improvement. It has been only two days for me and I tell ya, IT DOES WORK. The red spot had become more like a flesh color and flattened the skin by 30%. I'm going to be a guinea pig myself and try it out further on other spots, too. I hope it is not just a fluke. In the meantime I'll keep you posted on this. (End quote.)

If these two had been on the same thread that quote could have been inserted in its' own little box with a click or two, instead of copying and pasting as I have just done (and in the process, losing the first four paragraphs that I had already written in my response before the cutting and pasting.)

Other readers too have to go back and switch threads just to find out what you are talking about. Most won't do so.

Be that as it may, let us look at the message. In your first line you are in effect advertising a product called Cyclic Nano Silver, a very, very expensive product in very pretty containers.

You set off my spammer alarm system with the blue strobe lights and the disorienting sirens first invented by the Nazi's long before you were born. But reading on, I realized it was a false alarm.

I do not believe you are a spammer.You are just a fellow who doesn't realize when you have said something in a misleading way. Now here is the comment on this thread, inserted with a single click:

Quote from: skin77 on May 01, 2007, 06:40:12 PM
I posted a few days ago that Cyclic soap might be working on P. Yesterday, I used it on my whole body and actually got some of the spots worse. I guess it's not a help. As for Tinactin, I tried it on other spots 2x day. It made them worse too I don't know how this antifungi ointment worked for that highschool kid. My P(soriasis) got cherry red and itchy now so I put some protopic to calm it down.

Actually I used the generic brand of Tinactin which contains the same active ingredient. Could it be that it was not working because I was not using the exact brand? Did anyone get benefit from using Tinactin?

See the difference? Okay, so now we can sum up the informational value of both posts efficiently.

You obtained a very, very expensive product and applied it for two days concluding that "IT DOES WORK." (But it is hard to really know if you are talking about the subject of your post or the fungicide Tinactin with this comment.)

Your second post retracts your first assessment of the Nano stuff. But then you say you put on some protopic "to calm it down." Perhaps you are unaware of the heated controversy surrounding this third product.

In any case, you have now applied THREE different potentially dangerous products TO your skin, thinking you were doing some things FOR your skin. And since you have said nothing about your previous experiments or visits to a doctor, there is no way of knowing if you have experimented with hormonal, steroidal or antibiotic creams. My guess is that you have.

I don't even know your gender, age, continent of residence, or any of the other possibly important details of your life.I strongly advise you to learn as much as you can about your skin and general health and to stop experimenting until you have a much better understanding of exactly what you are doing.

I extend this advice to the hordes of others who are pretty much doing the same sorts of things you are, with as little real thought. You can bet I will be getting some Email about what a (expletive deleted) I am, and Do I have to be so harsh?

So let me apologize for my frankness and give you a big genderless hug and let you know that I truly would like it if things worked out for you.
Anthropositor

Another Chilling Abridgement of Freedom

http://alternet.org/drugreporter/50948/

The story above is quite chilling. It should be food for thought for any person, no matter how reputable, that speaking freely on important issues is not without great risk.

But the eventual risk is even greater if we remain mute and allow unabridged power to grow without impediment.

The Price of War

Cost of the War in Iraq
$436,488,514,999 and climbing sharply.
Now add to this our domestic spending against terrorism and the vast sums we are squandering in Afghanistan to very little apparent good effect.

Considering the current state of the planet, and the ecological disasters we must deal with, should we not also factor in the ecological costs of war?
To see more details, click here.

Poisonous Pet Food

Most humans and animals are well equipped to handle a certain amount of toxicity in food and drink without serious difficulty. Let me illustrate. For people, accidentally eating a few apple seeds is not likely to do irrevocable harm. Eating a quarter of a cupful could easily kill you.

Like many children, animals sometimes develop food preferences and they can be pretty stubborn about it. Some insist on a single brand of food to the exclusion of all else. Some pet owners are even told that they should feed their animal only one particular food. I don't believe this is a good idea.

The animals lost in this contamination tragedy were very likely to have been those confined to such an exclusive diet with no dilutions. If one of my cats eats a rodent my neighbor has poisoned with a commercial toxic bait, unless it is a very large rodent or the cat eats several over a short period of time, he is not likely to come to a lot of harm if the poison is a blood thinner, for example, instead of something like arsenic.

Among my outdoor feral colony and the few indoor cats there are only a few picky specialized eaters. The ones I lost were these few. The list of recalled foods was long. When I first heard of the recall, I had perhaps six brands of animal feed that had been the largest part if what the animals ate. It would not have been feasible to take all of this food back to the markets.

What I did instead was add a lot of chicken, turkey, eggs, and even some beef and liver to the rations, diluting any possible contamination as much as possible. The dead or missing cats were all from the group of stubborn picky eaters who absolutely refused to change their eating patterns.The remaining cats are more robust than ever and seem delighted with their new menu.