The Squirrel Boy predicted this 14 years ago…
…and we laughed.
But he was right. The attack has begun.
On opposite sides of the world, none the less.
See the proof here and here.
Keep your eyes on the trees.
[via Dave Barry's Blog]
August 14, 2006 by Gene
The Attack Has Begun
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August 14, 2006 by Gene
I’m Leaving When?
Thursday I am flying to the other side of the work, for more than 10 days, to a country I know little about and don’t speak any of the language.
That is not odd. I am use to wondering to unknown place. I do it a couple of times a year. (Yes, I know, I am very lucky.)
It just doesn’t feel like it is coming so soon. Mostly because the whole trip is planned for me. I haven’t planed anything (minus my flights there and back). No searching through travel guides to find cheep hotels. No trying to figure out bus schedules from half a world away.
I just need to show up.
Not that that is bed.
But, the planning is fun too.
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August 13, 2006 by Gene
Freedom
“The price of freedom of religion, or of speech, or of the press, is that we must put up with a good deal of rubbish.”
-Robert Jackson
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August 11, 2006 by Gene
Weekend Activity
Looking for a little activity that might be fun for the whole family?
This probably ISN’T it.
But who knows?
PS: What would inspire someone to trying and figure out how this is possible?
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August 10, 2006 by Gene
The Inconvenient Truth
You now have a homework assignment.
You must go see the new movie The Inconvenient Truth.
It is a well made, well laid out explanation of the how, why, when, and probable future of global warning.
And don’t give me, “Scientists don’t know. This is just a cycle.”
Go see the movie. Listen to the facts from someone who no longer has a personal political agenda.
If the movie is on half right, half of the time, it is sobering and deeply concerning.
Also, don’t miss the movie because you are afraid of the truth it is going to tell and how it is going to damn your life and your choices. We are at a point in history where we can no longer stick our heads in the sand.
You must know this.
On a personal note: I am struck by the fact that the environmental movement’s rallying cry has been wrong for so many years. Environmentalists keep saying, “We need to save the planet.”
We don’t need to save the planet.
The plant is going to be fine. It has been here for billions of years, and it will be here for billions more. It is a system that changes and adapts.
What we need to worry about is whether or no the plant will continue to be inhabitable for our species.
It should not be “save the planet,” but instead “save the environment” or even better “save the humans.”
Then, we might get the point.
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August 9, 2006 by Gene
Teens, Music and Sex
Here is some scary food for thought. Here is part of a post from the blog Idol Chatter
A recent study by the Rand Corp. showed that “teens who said they listened to lots of music with degrading sexual messages were almost twice as likely to start having intercourse or other sexual activities within the following two years as were teens who listened to little or no sexually degrading music.”
It also pointed out:
Of course, other researchers felt “factors including peer pressure, self-esteem, and home environment are probably more influential than the research suggests.”
“When somebody has a healthy sense of themselves,” notes Yvonne K. Fulbright, a New York-based sex researcher and author, “they don’t take these lyrics too seriously.”
“When somebody has a healthy sense of themselves,” notes Yvonne K. Fulbright, a New York-based sex researcher and author, “they don’t take these lyrics too seriously.”
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August 9, 2006 by Gene
Future
“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”
-Alan Kay
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August 9, 2006 by Gene
The Trees
During my morning walk I have started something new. I am doing a version of the Qigong (sometimes written Chigong) tree meditation. The version I have been taught is very short.
1. Approach a tree and stand 8 to 10 feet away.
2. Acknowledge the tree.
3. Slowly breath in, as you do, visualize the tree’s qi (energy) passing down its trunk, through it root and ground up into your body.
4. Slowly breath out, as you do, visualize the qi passing through your head back into the top of tree.
5. Repeat 9 more times.
6. Slowly breath in, as you do, visualize the tree’s qi coming out of the top of the tree into the top of your head.
7. Slowly breath out, as you do, visualize the qi passing down your legs, into the ground, and up into the tree’s trunk.
8. Repeat 9 more times.
9. Thank the tree.
I have been only doing this for a few days, so the practice itself hasn’t done much more than relax me (not that it needs to do more than that).
What is interesting is how it has changed my vision.
The instance I opened my eyes after doing the practice the first time I saw the park around me in a different way.
Now instead of seeing groups of trees, I see each tree as an individual tree. Everything is clearer and crisper because of this.
It is as if because I recognized one tree as an individual, I now see them all in a different way.
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August 8, 2006 by Gene
Easy Way To Better Health
This is going to sound like the pitch some snake oil sales man would make. It is filled with promises that seem too good to be true. Maybe one of these results might be believable, but all of them?
Guess what?
It’s true!
Every clam below is supported by published research. The person listed with the result is who lead the research.
All of this was accomplished by what Harvard Medical School Professor Herbert Benson MD would call the Relaxation Response. The Relaxation Response is nothing more than the physical state the body enters (and all the benefits from this state) from practiced regimented relaxation. (For more information on any of these studies please visit M/BMI
- Patients with hypertension experienced significant decrease in blood pressure and needed fewer or no medications over a three-year measurement period (Eileen M. Stuart, RN, C, MS).
- Patients with chronic pain experienced les severity of pain, more activity, less anxiety, less depression, less anger. And they visited the managed care facility where they received care 36 percent less often in the two years after completing the program then they did prior to treatment (Margaret A. Caudill, MD, Ph.D.).
- Seventy-five percent of patients with sleep-onset insomnia (meaning that they couldn’t fall asleep easily) were cured and became normal sleepers. Sleeping also improved for the other 25 percent, and most patients took significantly fewer sleep medications (Gregg D Jacobs, Ph.D.).
- Thirty-six percent of the women with unexplained infertility became pregnant within six months of completing the program (Alice D. Domar, Ph.D.).
- Patients with complaints described by the admitting personnel as psychosomatic and who were frequent users of a heath maintenance organization reduced their number of visits by 50 percent (Caroline JC Hellman, PhD).
- Women suffering from symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS), experienced a 57 percent decrease in severity. The more severe the PMS, the more effective the relief with the relaxation response (Irene L Goodale, PhD)
- Patients with cancer and AIDS experienced decreased symptoms and better control of nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy (Ann Webster, PhD).
- Patients with cardiac arrhythmias experienced fewer of them (Herbert Benson MD).
- Patients who suffered from anxiety or mild or moderate depression were less anxious, depressed, angry, and hostile (Herbert Benson, MD).
- Patients undergoing painful X-ray procedures experienced less anxiety and pain and needed one-third the amount of pain and anxiety medications usually required (Carol L Mandle, RN, PhD).
- Patients who had open-heart surgery had fewer postoperative arrhythmias and less anxiety following surgery (Jane Lesserman, PhD).
- Migraine and cluster headache sufferers found they had fewer and less severe headaches (Herbert Benson, MD).
- High school sophomores increased their self-esteem (Herbert Benson).
- Working people experienced reduced symptoms of depression, anxiety, and hostility (Patricia Carrington, PhD)
- Working people had fewer medical symptoms, fewer illness days, improved performance, and lower slood pressure (Ruanne K Peters, SD)
To see receive the health benefits of the Relaxation Response is simple. All you have to do is a simple breathing exercise for 15 min a day.
You want to learn? It is easy. I explain the whole thing in this 5 min audio file.
This is to good to keep to your self. Share the following link with your friends and family:
http://tinyurl.com/q4ojk
[Source: Timeless Healing: The Power and Biology of Belief by Herbert Benson MD]
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August 7, 2006 by Gene
OkGO!
One more reason I love art. This didn’t cost millions of dollars to make, just lots of creativity and time.
Here it goes again!
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