Seething on the Third Rock

2006-04-18 Master Cleanser (Update)

ell the Master Cleanser fast ended for me last Thursday evening--I started eating again starting with fresh celery and broccoli.  In total I lost 7 pounds and Jinny and I have made some diet and fitness changes:

• We have switched from pure white rice to a mixture of white and brown rice.  We hope to switch to pure brown rice eventually.  While white rice is mostly just carbohydrates, brown rice contains much more vitamins and natural fiber. [1]  While I find the mixture to be delicious, I am still limiting my portions as we eat rice nearly everyday
• We are taking Genuine Health greens+ a whole food supplement.
• I am eating oatmeal now for breakfast instead of eggs and sausage.
• We are not drinking alcohol at least 3 days per week.
• Jinny has started (*gasp*) going to the gym.
• I bought a (used) bicycle and I finally got my Rollerblades from Ireland so I plan to get back into the weekend outdoor routine.  I already go to the gym 2-3 times per week.

This isn't much but I hope it will be just the beginning of a new commitment to healthy living.

2006-04-16 Déjà vu, Dreams and Nausea

any years ago--so many I can't remember how many--I had a recurrent dream.  As I recall I had the dream exactly three times.  Usually, I can't remember the dream other than to remember that I had it these three times and that it seems like a television drama with multiple characters reciting lines from a script.  Sometimes, in no particular place and for no apparent reason, I will start trying to remember the dialogue of the various characters in this dream.  It is hard to do but sometimes I can induce this at will.  When I start remembering the lines, an incredible sense of Déjà vu completely overwhelms me.  Where ever I am and whatever I am doing, I can start to know EXACTLY what everyone around me is going to say and what is going to happen before it actually does.  This will usually last for at most 10 seconds or so but I recall it lasting for even a few minutes at a time.  The sensation is so overwhelming that I ALWAYS get nauseated and dizzy and I have to lie down.  I also get congested and notice the same odd smell.  Sometimes I have written down some of the dialogue from the dream.  When I read it later it all seems like total gibberish.  The one thing I have come to understand however is that the dream is not about one event but many, many events layered one on top of the other.  The 'words' in the dialogue have many different meanings in each different situation.  If you have had a similar experience, please comment.  I have been surfing the web for others with similar experiences and I have found a few.   There seems to be a lot of mention of this type of phenomena related to 1) epileptic 'auras' and of course 2) users of psychoactive drugs (e.g., mushrooms, marijuana, etc.)

2006-04-05 The US Health Care Crisis

t's official now.  A recent study has shown that while the US spends more than double the amount on health care as Great Britain, the average Brit is still healthier and lives longer than the average American.  [1] Needless to say, the average Brit also has access to public healthcare while 40 million Americans still have no health insurance to speak of.  And yet you still hear the right wing in America rallying against the evils of "socialized healthcare".  It's despicable. 

The real issue is that healthcare is always a scarce resource and therefore it must be rationed.  Some studies show that the average person will spend well over 50% of their total health care spending in the last month of their life.  Basically, health care can either be rationed based on the severity of the illness and the efficacy of the therapies available to improve and prolong life (as in Britain and Canada) or it can be rationed as it is in America based on how much money you have (to pay for private insurance and care) or how old you are (the elderly vote more than any other demographic group).  Needless to say, this results in the US getting a very poor return in terms of average longevity relative to its enormous healthcare expenditures.  (See the chart below.) 

With the current crew of Shiavo and stem cell focused lunatics in the White House, there is not much room for hope.  It doesn't surprise me that my friends who have great health insurance continue to vote to perpetuate this immoral, class-based health care system.  What amazes me is that I have friends with no health insurance at all who also support the current system.

Above: Average Health Care Spending Per Person vs. Average Life Expectancy among rich countries.  [1] Click on the image to enlarge.