08.29.07
Posted in Anything goes, Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments, History, Uncategorized at 9:22 am by Administrator
Another book which has captured my attention is called, Fatal Deception, the Terrible True Story of How Asbestos is Killing America, by Michael Bowker. Personally, I thought asbestos had been banned years ago. However, I was surprised to learn from Bowker’s book that asbestos has not been banned and continues to be highly used in America today. Since Bowker’s book was published in 2003, I did a quick Google search to see what the current status is on asbestos. I came up with this article titled Murray’s Asbestos Bill Passes Key Committee with Unanimous, Bipartisan Support dated July 31, 2007, which in fact verifies that asbestos is still not banned here in the U.S. even though other countries have long since acknowledged the health hazards of asbestos and have subsequently banned it in their countries. The health hazards have been known in the U.S. for over a 100 years, yet it is only this year in 2007 that it is in the “process” of being banned. It has not been banned, yet. Meanwhile literally hundreds of Americans have died and suffered from asbestos-related diseases. Bowker’s book is another testament to how the mighty dollar is worth more to some people than the health of his fellow humans. It is another example of how the rich have oppressed the poor and have exploited our naivety.
I’m guessing that most people know that asbestos is hazardous to our health. But what is asbestos? How are we using it?
Asbestos is any group of minerals that can be fibrous. Therefore there is not just one kind of asbestos, but several. This is important to know because it can be called by a different name, but still be asbestos. All asbestos fibers are believed to be hazardous to human health. The town’s people and mine workers in Libby, Montana were being exposed to dangerous levels of asbestos for decades in the form of “tremolite.” They all understood that their mine had tremolite, but they didn’t realize that it was asbestos or that tremolite is one of the deadliest forms of asbestos. The company that owned and hired the workers knew very well that tremolite was asbestos, yet they did not inform their employees or the town’s people. Consequently an inordinate number of Libby residents have died of asbestos-related diseases and many more are still suffering from those diseases for which there is no known cure. Sadly, asbestos-related diseases can be very painful and debilitating and even take years of pain before the victim dies. Here’s a link which gives more details on the different types of asbestos.
How does asbestos damage our health? Asbestos fibers are very small. It is believed that the particles large enough to be seen by the naked eye are not able to harm us. It’s the small dust particles that we are not able to see, smell, or taste which can cause terrible diseases such as asbestosis, mesothelioma, fibrosis, and various cancers. Autopsies have located asbestos fibers in the brain, bone marrow, large and small intestines, spleen, pancreas, prostate, thyroid, bladder, and liver. They can also be passed from mother to fetus. Prior to reading this book, I had only known of lung related diseases being associated with asbestos. Now I see that many other health conditions are also linked, if not from direct damage caused by the asbestos fibers to the tissues, then from damage caused by lack of oxygen delivered to the body such as the heart. Since the dangers of asbestos has been downplayed so much for so many years, there has not been a lot of research as to how asbestos actually causes diseases. The studies done have merely shown the obvious relationship of increased diseases, particularly lung diseases manifested by those who have had asbestos exposures. Bowker writes about what the possible route asbestos takes to cause disease. Here is a short clip:
“Macrophages attack the fibers much like the body attacks a splinter in a finger. Unfortunately, they are no match for the mineral asbestos fibers, which are too long and too tough for the body to dissolve or absorb. The macrophages generally tear themselves open trying to “eat” the fibers, and their destructive, digestive molecules pill out, causing more tissue damage. The body quickly heals the microscopic injuries, but scar tissue, called fibrosis, develops. In the end, it is the cumulative buildup of this pulmonary fibrosis that become coated with layers of protein and iron. These tiny lumps are called asbestos bodies.
“The fibrosis causes the lining of the air sacs to thicken and stiffen, making it difficult for the body to pass oxygen to the blood-stream and to properly rid itself (through exhaling) of the buildup of carbon dioxide. As the scarring process, which is progressive and irreversible, continues, the victim being to slowly suffocate. The coughing impulse that usually can rid the lungs of unwanted debris is triggered almost continuously, but the fibers have penetrated too deeply and cannot be dislodged.”
Asbestos has many uses and since it is fibrous, it can be spun into threads and made into fabrics. I actually bought a pair of asbestos gloves years ago when I was into ceramics to help protect me from the extreme heat of raku firing. Asbestos is known to be very heat resistant, durable, and pliable. For some pictures and more information on asbestos, here’s a Wikipedia link. There are actually plenty of articles on asbestos that can be found through a simple Google search. The latency period for disease after asbestos exposure can range from months to many years. Some people who have been exposed to asbestos for as little as a week have shown scar tissue in their lungs years later. I used to work quite a bit with ceramics and glazes and even worked for a short while in a ceramics laboratory. I know I have been exposed to many mineral dust particles. I’ve also used vermiculite in the garden, which according to Bowker, vermiculite is rarely pure. In the Libby mines, vermiculite was heavily contaminated with tremolite (asbestos). Scotts gardening products used the vermiculite from Libby for many years. Now I have no problem with capitalism. If there is a market for poisons such as chemos, well then let those who want to buy it have it. But what I find inexcusable is when these businesses/corporations “know” the dangers of their product, yet they do not warn the public or their employees. This is not limited to just one company, but many–at least 50 throughout the world. And it is not limited to asbestos, but other poisons, thus raising the offending corporations to many times more than 50. I know that there are those who know of the dangers yet still take the risks of exposing themselves to such poisons. That is their choice. But when people are not properly informed, then they don’t have a choice. They are basically tricked into using the products or working under hazardous situations by being kept in the dark (dumbed down). At the very least, if people were well-informed, then they could protect themselves more such as wearing face masks or improving ventilation, etc. But the fact is that the almighty dollar always has a play. If more people were more educated, then there would be less sales, and less people working under those horrific circumstances. If protective measures were employed, it would cost the companies more money translating into less profits, etc.
It’s easy for healthy, wealthy people to downplay the dangers of exposing various substances to the ordinary “Joe.” They are not the ones struggling to take a breath, or feeling the constant pain for years. According to Pat Cohen, clinic coordinator for Libby’s Center for Asbestos-Related Diseases (CARD), “it can be extremely painful.” “Every time a patient with asbestosis takes a breath–which happens about sixteen to twenty times a minute–it rubs a sore spot. Your lungs just can’t expand. You may be okay watching television, but if you get up to get yourself a cup of coffee in the kitchen, you suddenly run out of breath. Many asbestosis victims can’t even get across the room. They sleep in a chair at night so they can breathe. It is a slow, strangulating process, and there is nothing anybody can do about it.”
I’ve had bronchitis before. It was horrible not being able to take in a full breath. It was frightening. It felt like I was being suffocated. And I also could not lie down and had to prop myself up to breathe. I can’t imagine living like that for years to the point of death as what happens to those with lung damage. The cases of asbestos-related disease are said to be on the rise. According to Henry Falk, the assistant administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), “We aren’t looking for the number of mesothelioma and other asbestos-related disease to level off until the year 2047.” (The only known cause of mesothelioma is asbestos exposure). Asbestos fibers don’t dissolve, and they are not easily removed. They are among the most durable substances in the world; that’s why asbestos has been used in so many products. Asbestos fibers can stay in your lungs for decades after exposure and cause disease and death.
There is so much more to the story of asbestos. I wish I could share it all, but alas, that is not possible for a short blog entry. I’m only half way through the book, so I may post an update on it later.
Marlakins
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08.26.07
Posted in Anything goes, Uncategorized at 7:33 am by Administrator
Last night I finished reading an old book called, Eric, by Doris Lund. Wow, what a story. I had not intended to read this book. I just happened to stumble across it while waiting for Brian at the library. Course, once I started, I couldn’t put it down.
Doris Lund was Eric’s mother. She documents Eric’s four-year struggle with leukemia, which began in 1967 and ended in 1971. He was only 17 years old with a promising future as a soccer player when he was first diagnosed. Basically, Eric obtained six very short remissions during that four years before he relapsed for the final time. I don’t even know where to start, but definitely know that the story of Eric touched me for several reasons.
While I realize that this book is dated (it was first published in 1974), I still found that many of the experiences Lund wrote regarding Eric is still relevant today, particularly amongst those who have experienced life-threatening illnesses. I will admit that before being diagnosed with aplastic anemia, I was pretty much in the dark about serious illnesses like cancers. I had heard little bits and pieces of cancer stories and knew that the patients got very thin and bald, but that was about the extent of my knowledge. After developing aplastic anemia, I began to read and delve deeper into what cancer patients experience. And I learned the ghastly reasons why so many people dreaded cancer and why they got thin and bald. All too often, it was a death sentence which involved pain and disfigurement. The story of Eric is another testament to the truth of that.
In addition to learning about the physical effects of cancers on the human body, I also learned about the emotional effects it can have on each person. While I know that aplastic anemia is different from cancer and that each person has his or her own personality, there were references in Eric that still brought back memories and similarities to me. For one, an unusual bond seems to form amongst the sick. Age, gender, size, nationality, or social status are no longer barriers between patients. The struggle to survive becomes the common goal, and the loss of any member is mourned. This was true for Eric, and it validates for me why even after 7 years, I still go back to check in on the aplastic forum. Like everyone else, I want to continue to live my life, but I still can’t forget my brothers and sisters who struggle or have struggled with aplastic anemia. Life-threatening illness do change people, whether it’s the patient or the caretakers.
Lund also shared conflicts in her relationships with her husband and children. Again, I see similarities to my own experiences! The dynamics between men and women and how differently we cope with various situations and especially during times of stress would be easier to bear if we understood that men and women deal with stressful situations differently. There were times when Lund asked her husband after his visit with their son how Eric was, and his reply would be a short, “fine.” Ack! Her response was just as my reflex response was! “As long as my son has leukemia, he is not fine! I want more details!”
It was interesting reading Lund’s perspective as a mother of a terminally-ill, young adult son. Thank God I have not experienced this. I pray I never have to. From her accounts, it was obviously heart-wrenching to watch and know the danger her son was in, yet due to her respect for her son’s independence, she had to stay at a distance many times. How unbearable that must have been to see and know it all happening, yet being unable to change the course! Just reading her descriptions had me crying even though I know Eric died 30 years ago! During my illness, I was the patient, and I did not realize the turmoil my illness was causing my family. It wasn’t until I was out of danger that I heard the stories of my family members and the things that transpired among them in the event of my passing. And I did not experience half as much horror as Eric did.
A few other events in Lund’s account of Eric’s struggle reminded me also of some other feelings I had. There was one argument Lund documents between her son and herself when she exclaimed that she wished she were dead. Her son stopped and cursed her, and walked out. That may sound harsh, but I felt I could relate because I remember at the time wanting so much to live while reading of others killing themselves or senselessly drugging themselves up. “Oh,” I thought, “to have the health that they were just throwing away and did not value.” One of the male nurses who attended me during one of my hospital stays was very kind to me and even told me that he had added me to their prayer list at his church. I later found that he was shot and killed in a spree shooting at a local fast food chain restaurant. So young, healthy, and so kind. How could someone have senselessly wasted his life like that?
The description of the other patients who shared the hospital ward with Eric was also reminiscent of my many visits to the hospital. The varied people, personalities, and unique illnesses were there along with the mix of emotions. It was so real. I could remember it. I could almost feel it. Lund describes it from thirty years ago, yet so much is still the same today even down to the cancer drugs that were given to the patients! I realize a few more have been added since, but the same ones are still employed–methotrexate, prednisone, cytosine, arabinoside, thioguanine, vincristine, and the list goes on. It’s amazing how much poison the human body can take before it completely succumbs.
There does appear to be a difference in views between patient and caregivers. This book reminds me of a post on the aplastic forum regarding how long a person has had AA. There were a couple posts pointing to a long-time AA survivor who has lived with it for about 20 years or so. I know that sounds encouraging, but the catch is this patient has relapsed several times and has suffered debilitating health issues due to the treatment of her AA. So for me, from the eyes of the patient, I actually found that story depressing. Because one of the things we AAers don’t want to happen is to relapse. And to see that this person has relapsed several times is discouraging. Yet, for a caretaker, just the fact that this patient is still alive is encouraging! Co-incidentally, both posts were by “caretakers,” not the AA patient. And that story was actually encouraging to them! How different we view things depending upon which side of the fence we’re on!
Well there was more in Eric’s story that I could go on about, but should really stop here. The one consolation I had was that he was able to find a beautiful woman who loved and cared for him during his last days and even into his last hours. I am reminded how important it is that we care for one another. How terrible it must be for those sick and dying to not have someone who loves them by their side. Eric’s story, like several of the other biographies I’ve read of people suffering from terminal illnesses is a testament to how beautiful the human soul can be, how short life on earth is, and what is really important in life. I’m 42, but Eric died at 21. I can’t imagine dying that young. I’ve had so many wonderful experiences since 21. (Course at what age do any of us feel that we’ve lived enough unless we’re mentally depressed or have already suffered too much?) And I’m reminded of how much time have I whittled away doing nothing. The story of Eric has had my mind racing about all sorts of things, but I’ll stop here before I go off on too many other tangents like wondering what my purpose is in this life, and why I am still here.
Marlakins
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08.20.07
Posted in Anything goes, Uncategorized, knitting and crocheting at 9:11 pm by Administrator
At the start of 2007 while doing yarn searches on the internet, I came across an advertisement for The Fiber Fest in Santa Monica. For some reason it looks like all the really cool yarn/fiber shows are in other states, or at the closest, up in Northern California (400 miles away, erp). So I was really excited to find that there was a show coming into town. The only catch was that it was scheduled for August, oye. . .
Well amazingly enough, August is now here. The Fiber Fest has come and gone. I was able to get to it yesterday, woo hoo! Although I was glad I went, it wasn’t as grand as I had hoped. It was held at the Santa Monica Civic Center, the same place where the Gem Show is held several times a year, which I think is great, heheheh. But the Gem show had me spoiled because they have loads of vendors there. I was expecting the same for the Fiber Fest, but it was not to be. I was “okay,” tho, and I would like to go again when it comes around again next year. And I also took pictures to share. 
Here’s what the Santa Monica Civic Center looks like:
The vendors were all very friendly and helpful (I just wish there were more vendors!) They even had a few live animals there whose fleece and fur are used for spinning into yarns. Here’s a picture of a guy spinning yarn right off of the rabbit! Ha ha! This is something I had never seen done before. This guy had the live rabbit right on his lap while he gently pulled little bits of fur off and spun it. The rabbit didn’t seem to mind in the least.
Right next to him was that table for alpaca. These animals were also so cute! And they made the funniest sounds, in my opinion. But check them out:
The owners of these alpaca are Lorraine & Mike Smith of Alpaca Knolls. 
I found them to be a very friendly couple and hope to be able to do some business with them some time if I can ever get enough time to do more spinning. Here’s a picture of Lorraine at their table. She was sweet enough to pick up a rabbit to get into the picture. Yes, that’s a “live” rabbit!, heheh. They remind me of little ewoks.
As I’m sure most people know, fibers come from many sources other than furry animals. They also come from plants like flax, cotton, hemp, corn, soy, and silkworms. . . Here’s a pic of the silkworm table.
Those are real live silkworms under those leaves. On the bottom left-hand corner of the tray are several silk cocoons. On top of the can sitting on top of the stack of papers are two cocoons in the process of being made. Unfortunately, it can’t been seen well in this shot, but in person, I was able to see the silkworms working inside their cocoons forming it. On the right-hand side of the silkworm tray are three hanks of silk that were spun from the silkworm cocoons. This table belonged to www.Wormspit.com He has a very nice video of how he processes silk online, but I can’t seem to locate the link right now. I did find his flickr photos which has more pictures of his worms and this year’s Fiber fest. Here’s a little closeup of the silkworms munching away.
The common process of using the cocoons for thread would require that the silkworms be killed so that the strands from the cocoon would be in one continuous strand. If the worms are allowed to live to term, then they would break through the cocoon breaking all the strands. However, since there are concerns about killing the little wormies, there is now what is known as “peace silk.” This is the process by which silkworms are allowed to grow to full term and break through the cocoon. So peace silk is not made from continuous strands of silk, but from lots of broken strands. Personally, I’m not that sensitive to know the difference in the yarn. . .
All in all, I was happy that I went to the show even tho there weren’t as many vendors there as I had hoped. There wasn’t the giant selection of yarns that I had imagined would be there, and what was there was pretty costly. I didn’t end up buying any yarn, sigh. . . but I did buy two small books and a 1 lb bag of roving. I don’t know when I’ll ever get to spinning it, but it was a good price, and I wanted to try spinning some pre-dyed roving. Here’s a picture of it with the two small books I bought on socks.
This roving is made from a blend of mohair and tussah silk top. It’s called Peacock Blue Beast, heheheh, and from Custom Handweaving. Their website is www.nancyscustomhandweaving.com This is the vendor I would come back to the show to see. They also had a large selection of books from where I bought the two sock books shown in the picture. I wanted to learn to knit socks from the toe up and also use circular needles. They had just the books for me.
Another booth that interested me was Bird Brain Designs. Their website is www.birdbraindesigns.net They aren’t a yarn supplier, but I did find their craft interesting and would like to eventually try it. Other resources I found of interest to me were local groups for rug hooking and bobbin lace-making. So many things to try, so little time. . .
Marlakins
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08.15.07
Posted in Anything goes, Uncategorized, humor at 11:30 am by Administrator
This gave me a chuckle, so thought I’d share. . .
An atheist was walking through the woods.
“What majestic trees! “What powerful rivers! “What beautiful animals!” he said to himself. As he was walking alongside the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. He turned to look and saw a 7-foot grizzly charge towards him.
He ran as fast as he could up the path. He looked over his shoulder and saw the bear closing in on him. He looked over his shoulder again and the bear was even closer. He tripped and fell, rolled over, and found the bear right on top of him with a paw slashing toward his face.
The atheist cried out, “Oh my God!”
Time Stopped. The bear froze. The forest was silent. As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky. “You deny My existence for all these years, teach others I don’t exist and even credit creation to cosmic accident. Do you expect Me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to now count you as a believer?”
The atheist looked directly into the light, “It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask you to treat me as a Christian now, but perhaps you could make the BEAR a Christian?”
“Very well,” said the voice.
The light went out. The sounds of the forest resumed. And the bear brought his swiping paw down. Then he drew both paws together, bowed his head and said, “Lord, bless this food, which I am about to receive from thy bounty, through Christ our Lord, Amen.”
Tee hee! 
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08.14.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 9:25 am by Administrator
Last weekend turned out to be a memory lane of sorts. For one, I stumbled across some of Brian’s baby pictures. Ha! It’s just too cute that I had to share it. For some reason at times when I look at Brian I think of him as a little boy and how cute he must have been. Well, he was a cute baby. Check it out. . .
Tee hee hee! Isn’t it funny to think that this little baby would eventually be a father of three boys?
This weekend my youngest son, Aaron, and I went to visit my aunt and uncle. They live about 40 miles away in a direction we don’t usually go, so it’s been a long time since we’ve been to their house. We usually see them at my parents’ house or some other Filipino gathering. Actually, I have gone there on occasion, but the last time Aaron had been there was when he was about 4 years old or younger. So I was very surprised when we walked into my aunt’s place and he said, “Oh, I remember this place. They used to have a light blue carpet, and I remember the kitchen. . . ” Aaron is now 13 years old, so that surprised me. His memory was right, they did have a light blue carpet years ago, and I think I know why he remembered their kitchen and refrigerator, too. My aunt’s sister-in-law worked for a place that made those plastic food displays, and so my aunt’s refrigerator was covered with plastic food magnets, ha! It’s funny what we remember after years go by. The memory my aunt had of the time that Aaron had last visited her house was that Aaron kept asking her throughout the day, “Is it night time yet?” Ha ha! He was waiting for his daddy to pick him up because years ago when I had babysitting problems, I took Aaron to my aunts to watch him until I could get babysitting issues fixed. She only watched him for about a week. I would take Aaron to my aunts in the AMs, and Brian would pick him up in the PMs because he got off work earlier than I did. It was a 40-mile drive one way so by the time Brian would get there, it would be night time and that’s why Aaron kept asking if it was night time, yet. We had never let any strangers baby sit any of our kids, so we did the 40-mile drive that one week. So here we are at my aunt’s place almost 10 years later where Aaron remembered Auntie’s light blue carpet.
The next thing we did was go out to a Filipino restaurant called, Max’s Chicken. Wow, that’s another thing I hadn’t done in a long time–go to a Filipino restaurant. 
Here’s Aaron letting me play with my crocheted animals while we waited to be seated. Nice of him to put up with my antics, huh? Ha! These little critters are actually destined to go to the Philippines this Thursday with my parents. They’re heading off to their new homes, heh. Here they are sitting with “Pinkie,” who is off to keep my other auntie in the Philippines company. My uncle recently passed away last month, so I wish I could visit personally, but Pinkie will have to go in my stead.
Oh, which reminds me, here’s a picture of Lester. He’s one of my crocheted rabbits who my other aunt recently adopted as well. This is him at the car ride to Auntie’s house.
And here he is in his new home. Looks like he’s already got a new friend, too! Ha! Well, I do have a lot more pictures of them and other new critters I’ve made, but it would be a bit much to put them all on here. So, I’ll give it a rest for now, ha! But be prepared to see more later, ack! It’s funny how people take to them. I just make them, and they get snatched up. But suffice it to say that this weekend was definitely memory lane as my aunt had a photo album full of a bunch of old family pictures and old family stories. I wish I could share some of those pictures, too. Maybe some time I’ll upload a few of the old pictures I did find from my mom’s place. There aren’t many of the old black and white ones, tho. I’m told most of them are still back in the Philippines with the other relatives. I’ve asked my parents if they could bring some copies back when the come back in a couple months. Hopefully they remember. Funny to see how much more formal people dressed back then!
Before I sign off, here’s one last shot of a couple Filipino desserts. Filipinos love desserts just like the rest of the world, ha! The one on the left is a green mango shake, and the one on the right is called buko pandan, hmm hard to explain what the ingredients are in that one. I wished my family had ordered some of the other more popular Filipino desserts so that I could share those, but this is all they ordered this time around the table. I didn’t have any, eh, doesn’t fit in my diet. Oh well.
Marlakins
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08.13.07
Posted in Anything goes, Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments, Uncategorized at 1:45 pm by Administrator
My youngest son has been interested in martial arts. Thanks to YouTube, he’s been able to watch a lot of different fighting styles and show me various comparisons. One particular fighting style which caught my eye was Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. However, because of my interest in health and longevity, this particular YouTube video has prompted me to blog about it. It features Helio Gracie, one of the Gracie legends in martial arts, who is 91 years old in this video and still teaching and fighting. Oye! I love it! Check it out!
Talk about inspiration! Old age doesn’t have to be an automatic sentence to feebleness. Wouldn’t it be interesting to know what his diet is like. . . Can I be like him when I grow up? Can I? Can I? Purty please?
Marlakins
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08.10.07
Posted in Anything goes, Uncategorized at 10:56 am by Administrator
I had taken a few pictures of the Hollywood Farmer’s Market on Hollywood and Ivar last weekend to include in my mini tour blogging of LA. But I haven’t had the time to put them up until now. So here they are. The first one is of Amoeba Records on Hollywood. It’s located right across the street from where the Hollywood Farmer’s Market is held each Sunday from around 7-2PM (or that might be 1PM, erp!)
Amoeba is for music and movie lovers. They’ve got one of the best selections around. I believe they have another location in San Francisco on Haight Street. Just off to the left of the picture a little glimpse of the Cinerama Dome can be seen. Below is another picture of the Cinerama Dome. This has been here for years. Okay, here I go dating myself again. . . To give an clue, I saw the movie “Airplane” there years ago when I was just a young whipper snapper. That was when all those “disaster” movies like Earthquake, Towering Inferno, Jaws, etc. were big hits and movie lines were so long they wrapped around the blocks. It’s been jazzed up a bit, but the “dome” is still the same.
Then just across the street from that is the Los Angeles Film School. Here’s a pic of me on the side of the building with their “graffiti” laden advertisement for their recording and film schools.
Then just off to the left of the picture walking in the direction the cars are pointing is the weekly Hollywood Farmer’s market. They’re here every Sunday morning and cover about two blocks. The street is closed off from street traffic for the morning for local farmers to sell their produce. It’s reopened in the afternoon when the market closes up. Here are a couple shots.
There’s always a lot of customers and foot traffic during the market hours. Last week was appreciation week for local farmers. Here’s a couple more shots.
Stalls are lined up along both sides of the street. Here’s one on the other side walking up Ivar.
And another shot looking farther up north on Ivar. There are more produce vendors up that way including free-ranged chicken eggs and plants/herbs. At this intersection to the right and left there are prepared food vendors and a few non-food items for sale.
Since I am health conscious, I thought that the open air farmer’s market was worthy of mention on my blogging tour. This market is one of the best sources of fresh, organic produce for us Los Angelinos. Fortunately, we have other good markets here, too, like Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Erewhon, VP, and I think a new one is due soon called Sprouts. And of course, I must not forget the other good open air markets like the one in Santa Monica by the beach on Wednesdays in the AMs on Arizona. There are others, but these two are my favorites.
Have a great day!
Marlakins
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08.05.07
Posted in Anything goes, Uncategorized at 8:58 pm by Administrator
Last night I read the disturbing news about the U.S. soldiers who were convicted of gang raping a 14 year old Iraqi girl and then murdering her and her family in the Spring of 2006. Today the story is no longer on the front pages of the news. As with everything else, I guess they’ve moved on to the next tragedy. But I’m still upset about it. This one incident is horrible enough, but the reality that this is not an isolated incident really causes me anguish. These types of crimes have happened so many times throughout history, and likely will continue on into the future. Why are some people so evil? How can some people treat other people so viciously? Where is their conscience? Why have they no pity? It’s a frightening thought to me that people can be so cruel, and I am extremely bothered by it.
One thing I’ve wondered is how much of this news should I expose myself to? Will it harden me to learn of this over and over again? I checked the local news, and what did I see? About three other murder cases being reviewed. Once while discussing the events of the 1994 Rwanda massacres with another female acquaintance, she told me that she didn’t watch or keep up with any of that kind of news because it was harmful to her health and well-being. Hmm. I can see the logic to a point, and especially for a sick person trying to recover, constantly reading and hearing bad news is probably not helpful to healing. Horrible news like this is depressing and weights heavy on our souls. But on the other hand, I don’t feel right about just turning the other way and not even acknowledging the plight and suffering of others. I don’t feel right about living in la la land imagining that these atrocities do not exist or are not happening. I have been fortunate to have never experienced such things. But, shall I continue to wile away time and money on frivolous activities while lives are being destroyed and lost? What choice do I have? Certainly I would like to help, but how? And if I can not help, then what good is it for me to know? My feeling is that at the very least, I should know about it and hear their story. Because I want to acknowledge that these people once graced the earth and that their lives did matter.
But this type of stuff is not nice to know about. It does bring me down. It does tend to preoccupy more of my thoughts than I would like. So how much of this do I need to know? I do feel that the Bible calls us to seek out knowledge. In Proverbs it states that, ” Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold.” Apparently, knowledge is more valuable than gold. Then on the other hand, I believe we are also instructed to keep our minds on good things. In the matters of good, we are to be mature in knowledge, but in matters of evil, we are to be babes. So how do I know where do I draw the line?
I presented my conflict to Brian, and as usual, I feel he gave me good advice. He said, “Consider your purpose. If you are gaining knowledge to work good, then it’s probably right to expose yourself to it. But if you are seeking knowledge for a bad purpose (perhaps just to get off on knowing all the sordid details), then you probably don’t need to learn about that.” I think that helps me to assess my purpose. I should ask myself why I read accounts of horrific events like the 1994 Rwanda massacres and the murders of Iraqi civilians by our own military. To answer, I think I read them to be better informed with what is going on so that I can use my voting and/or voice in making choices involving anything from determining how I would vote for or against certain government policies or to advance my understanding of human nature. I suppose if we could all just trust one another, learning about these horrific happenings would not be necessary. Unfortunately, I have learned that we can not just trust anyone. Therefore, we must inform ourselves so that we can make wise choices. And knowing both the good and bad, is part of being well-informed.
This concept of how much should I expose myself to is actually a conflict I ran into when was reading When Medicine Went Mad. When I read about what the Nazi did to some of the inmates, I was appalled and didn’t know if I should continue reading! It made me upset to know that people had to endure such horror and that such things were perpetrated. And I was also wondering about what was to be done with any medical “advances” made as a result of any of the Nazi experiments. The hypothermia experiments were the most prominent of the experiments and the one from which data was being used and cited in medical journals. Is it right to use that information? This had been a conflict for me. But interestingly, the book presented the fact that there was no real valuable information gained or learned from the Nazi experiments that have significantly advanced medical science. Some things they verified were already known, and had already been documented under humane circumstances. Other experiments conducted were not controlled well enough to guarantee accurate information. And yet other tests were done not for the advancement of science, but rather to discover how fast death could be brought about. I agree that those experiments are not valuable medical advancement.
There were at least 26 different types of experiments conducted for the explicit purpose of research in the concentration camps or using concentration camp inmates in Germany, Poland, and France during the Nazi era. Here’s the list of some of the experiments that were performed.
~Analysis of high-altitude decompression on the human body,
~Attempts to make sea water drinkable,
~The efficacy of sulfanilamide for treating gunshot wounds,
~The feasibility of bone, muscle, and joint transplants,
~The ability to treat burns caused by incendiary bombs,
~The efficacy of polygal for treating trauma-related bleeding,
~The efficacy of high-dose radiation in causing sterility,
~The efficacy of phenol (gasoline) injections as a euthanasia agent,
~The efficacy of electroshock therapy,
~The symptoms and course of noma (starvation-caused skin gangrene),
~The postmortem examination of skeletons and brains to assess the effects of starvation,
~The efficacy of surgical techniques for sterilizing women,
~The impact of stress and starvation on ovulation, menstruation, and cancerous growths in the reproductive organs of women.
~A variety of studies were done on twins, dwarves, and those with congenital defects. Some camp inmates were used as subjects to train medical students in surgery. Jewish physicians in one camp surreptitiously recorded observations about the impact of starvation on the body.
Other studies were done to establish what method was most efficient to kill human beings.
Overall, I don’t see much practical value that the above experiments could provide. So I don’t feel the need to research that part of history much more. And my “conflict” of whether good information is being lost or ignored is no longer much of a dilemma for me. I am actually a bit relieved. And I also now feel that even if there were accurate information obtained from the Nazi experiments, the manner by which they obtained it was clearly wrong and should not be used. Any of the valuable stuff learned has been learned in other humane conditions. I think those should be referenced in journals, rather than the Nazi experiments.
I didn’t want to make such a dreary post, but I was feeling a bit dreary after reading about the recent court-martial. I felt extremely disappointed in humanity. It pretty much spoiled my day, really. I thought about how terrible I felt learning of the crimes these U.S. soldiers committed on an innocent family, and yet there are hundreds of other horrific crimes committed daily. I thought of how God knows of all of the crimes and sins committed. How incredibly heart-wrenching it must be for Him to endure all that at once. In the Bible before Noah’s flood, it said,
“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
“And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.”
That grief must have been extremely great. And that’s why He chose to wipe out everything that had the breath of life except those secured in the Ark. I “think” I realize now what it means that Jesus carried our sins. I never really thought about what it meant for Jesus to carry our sins. How do you carry sin? But if it’s anything like what I felt, then the result and the knowledge of sin is extremely heavy. I am amazed to think that Jesus carried “all” of our sins. How incredible. I think I’m now feeling a bit better that I’ve pounded my feelings out on this keyboard. Maybe this post should have just gone on my personal journal, but here it is.
Marlakins
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