11.18.11
Posted in Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments, History at 6:03 pm by Administrator
Back in 1999 when I was first diagnosed with aplastic anemia, I was frantically looking for ways to naturally treat myself. Amongst some of the known causes of aplastic anemia was radiation exposure. From that time on, I was fascinated with the history and discovery of radiation and how it has shaped the medical establishment and the military establishment and subsequently global politics. As a matter of fact, I even wrote a short primer series of blog entries pertaining to radiation back in 2006. The first post I titled “Radiation” and can be viewed here. I have since learned that the history of radiation is long and convoluted. While its discovery is fairly well-known, the processes of its acquisition and its subsequent uses and experiments are less known. More importantly, it’s dangers are also shrouded in confusion to this day.
Today in 2011, I’m still drawn to the subject of radiation (granted I have many distractions, thus the snail-paced rate by which I learn, heheh). After the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, the nuclear movement fell in the background. With the recent promotion of global warming, nuclear power was starting to re-emerge on the stage as a clean energy source. But with the advent of the Fukushima nuclear accident on March 2011, the dangers of radiation has been revitalized in some circles. I say “some” circles because there are still a lot of people who ignore and/or are just plain indifferent about it. That amazes me, but such is life. I guess it would be something like a football fanatic wondering why I couldn’t care less for the sport, heh.
Anyway, what I wanted to share today is a video I stumbled across called, “Lost Worlds – Secret Cities of the A-bomb”.
The secret cities referred to in the video were the cities created for the Manhattan Project–the United States’ secret nuclear weapons project that culminated in the creation of the atom bombs, Fat Man and Little Boy. For anyone who might not remember what Fat Man and Little Boy were, they were the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The project was enormous and cost U.S. taxpayers about $2 billion.
Despite the thousands of people who worked for the Manhattan Project, and despite its exorbitant cost, relatively few people really knew what the project was all about. Many jobs were compartmentalized and secrecy was highly enforced. According to Robert J. Lifton and Greg Mitchell, authors of Hiroshima in America, even Truman as Vice President of the United States, didn’t know about the Manhattan Project until Roosevelt died. The enormous cost and effort to create the A-bombs, according to Lifton and Mitchell, was likely a significant factor regarding the pressure/need to use the bombs before WWII ended. How could they explain using all that money and effort for nothing? It was also a political move to place the U.S. as the world leader over the defeated countries and its allies, including Russia. As such, those factors may have been the true motivating factors to drop the bombs in Japan, than ending the war. Historical accounts clearly shows that Japan had already been trying to negotiate a surrender back in April, about three and a half months before the first successful atom bomb test at Trinity, and about four months before the a- bombs obliterated two of Japan’s cities. It is also a known historical fact that only five Japanese cities had not been fire bombed by that time as well. Japan was already at its knees.
After reading Yellow Dirt by Judy Pasternak, I checked out one of the books she referenced called, The Plutonium Files by Eileen Welsome. My! Another fascinating book! Welsome’s book was copyrighted in 1999, the same year I was diagnosed with aplastic anemia and just beginning to learn about radiation. Welsome’s book brought to light 50-year-old secret radiation experiments on humans as part of the Manhattan Project. Evidently, unsuspecting people were secretly exposed to plutonium for research purposes. I am just beginning to read the book, so may comment about it later when I’m finished. For now, hope the video, “Lost Worlds–the Secret Cities of the A-bomb” is enlightening. To properly understand current world policies and how it is intertwined with the civilian world, especially those pertaining to nuclear proliferation, mining, and safety, this piece of history is indispensable.
Marlakins
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11.17.11
Posted in Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments, History at 1:21 pm by Administrator
Just when you think you’ve heard it all, something new comes along. . . Well, actually that’s only partly true. There is always something new coming along. However, the more I learn, the more I realize there’s so much out there that I don’t know. I never think these days that I’ve heard it all, cuz I haven’t. There’s always more to learn, and today I stumbled across this video on how tens of thousands of barrels of nuclear “waste” were disposed of by the international nuclear community lead by Germany. . .
That’s just great news, isn’t it? How eco friendly the nuclear industry is! For more information, take a look at this video. Apparently, at the height of the cold war (1960’s or so) tons of nuclear waste was being generated, and they didn’t know what to do with it. Just as they still don’t know what to do with it today. So what did they do? Load the nuclear waste in barrels and dump it into the sea! Genius! The practice was supposedly banned in 1995, but not until after 20,500 or so barrels had been dumped and now sitting on the sea floor corroding and contaminating sea life there. And ultimately land life as the food chain works its way up to us. Maybe this is why they don’t want to test the seafood. Perhaps it’s already been contaminating years ago and they don’t want the cat out of the bag. How can we protect ourselves when so many things are done clandestinely? For all our advances, the modern world is highly over rated.
Marlakins
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11.09.11
Posted in Book Reviews, Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments, History at 6:50 pm by Administrator
This week started out pretty hectic for me, but despite that, I managed to finish reading Judy Pasternak’s book, Yellow Dirt, An American Story of a Poisoned Land and a People Betrayed. Every free moment I got, I poked my head in Pasternak’s book; it was that engaging.
Why was Yellow Dirt so engaging? I guess it’s because it’s about another significant part of American history that is an amazing story, yet not well popularized. I mean, I’m sure all of us Americans have heard of the Gold Rush, but likely not as many have heard of the Uranium Rush. Likewise, many of us have heard about the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, yet how many of us have even considered where the uranium for the bomb came from? Where did all the uranium come from to build all the nuclear warheads during the cold war? Who mined it and what ever happened to those people?
Pasternak basically lays down the history of the discovery of uranium in the Navajo Nation to the mining of the ore along with the milling, and the inter-relations/actions that occurred between the Navajos and the “White Man” throughout the 1930s to the present day. I found this Youtube video of Pasternak describing her book.
I give Judy Pasternak’s Yellow Dirt, an American Story of a Poisoned Land and a People Betrayed two thumbs up. I highly recommend this book and wish more people were aware of the state of our country’s involvement with other nations and how we treat our own people. I find it very sobering and humbling.
Michael Connelly, author of Nine Dragons wrote regarding Pasternak’s book, “This book is a masterwork. It is journalism at it’s very best–a story told fully and eloquently. A story that everyone should know.” I agree. This is a story that especially all U.S. citizens should know.
Marlakins
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09.24.11
Posted in Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments, Treatment Decisions, gardening at 12:56 am by Administrator
Recently Brian signed us up for a couple Chumash Healing classes. The classes were held at the Theodore Payne Foundation for two Saturdays, each class being three hours long. The teachers of the classes were Cecilia Garcia, a bonafide Chumash Indian Healer, and James D. Adams, Jr., Associate Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Southern California. The classes were very good! The herbs discussed were primarily California native plants, although a few were plants from other areas that were later introduced to California but made their way into Chumash herbal treatments. We were introduced to the various herbs used by the Chumash Indians as explained by Cecilia, and then the pharmacology side of the plants were explained to us by James. For anyone interested in herbs, I recommend this Chumash Herb class.
Although each class was three hours long, the time went by really fast. Not only were we told about how each plant was/is used, but there was a lot of hands-on experience as well. They brought it freshly harvested plants which they passed around to each of us and we all made a sash filled with mixed herbs to wear. We were taught about using the mixed herbs in pillows and as bedding to enhance health, including mental health. Here’s a picture of an animal skin (IIRC, it’s rabbit) filled with mixed herbs.
These herb-filled skins are used like pillows during sleep. It’s believed to enhance mood and mental well-being.
Foot soaks and steam treatments were also discussed for various ailments like colds, lung problems, mood problems, etc. Here’s a pic of a couple gourds filled withhot water and herbs. We were encouraged to try them out. They smelled really nice.
Those were the teacher’s feet by the gourds, heh. Below is a close up of one of the herb mixtures. The water was very warm, and smelled really nice. It felt good, and I could see how it could help with relaxation.
Most of the herbs they passed around for us to look at, smell, and feel were fresh out of the ground, while a few were dried and in small baskets like this one. This herb is used for females (regulate cycles, IIRC) and is called “California everlasting.” I think it’s also used for lung issues and colds.
Amongst the fresh herbs were Elderberries. Apparently there are bluish ones and white ones. I knew of the bluish ones, but didn’t know about the whitish ones. They can be dried and used like currants. We tried them and they were actually tasty. Here’s a pic of the white variety.
Acorns were another California native plant used by the Chumash. James made up a sort of acorn jello or gruel for us to try.
Eh, I can’t say it tasted too good, heheheh, but it was considered a very important food source and helped sick people feel stronger. I think it’s kind of the equivalent to Chinese congee.
Here’s a pic of some acorns. They’re supposed to be ripe when they’ve fallen off the tree naturally.
Amongst the plants being passed around were also items like turtle shells. The small turtle shells were supposed to help with pain. Just rub them along the painful areas. I have to admit that those little turtle shells did feel good in the hands. I didn’t have any painful parts to test it out on, but I did rub the shells a bit because it really did feel nice. I neglected to take a pic of those, tho. . . But I did take a pic of this little hawk that Cecilia happened to see fall out of the sky on her way to the class. Apparently, an owl attacked it in mid air, and it fell where Cecilia was able to see it and pick it up.
I didn’t know this, but it’s illegal for people to own these birds, except for the American Indians. So Cecilia went ahead and took this bird since as a Chumash Indian she had the right to keep it. It was actually quite beautiful and peaceful lying on her bed of herbs. The feathers were very soft, too.
With all the stories, slides, hands-on items, etc. the time flew by and we headed out to do a short herb trek. Here’s a pic of the pathway.
Along the trail we were allowed and encouraged to pick fresh herbs for our use. That’s why Brian is carrying a big woven bag.
Along the trail was a lot of California buckwheat. We’ve eaten plenty of buckwheat in our household and I realized that day that I didn’t even know what the plant looked like. Well, this is what it looks like. . .
It was a really nice day to pick herbs. I’d like to go back out there again another time and spend more time exploring and picking, heh. I’m particularly encouraged to try to make my own fresh sashays. The ones Cecilia had us make smell really nice. Here’s a pic of Brian and me on the trail with our red sashays that we made with mixed herbs rolled up inside.
Our class ended with the completion of the herb trail. We learned a lot of nice and useful things in that class. For anyone interested in more information regarding California medicinal plants, Cecilia and James have a book available called Healing with Medicinal Plants of the West; cultural and scientific basis for their use. Thanks Cecilia and James for all your hard work and sharing it with us!
Marlakins
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09.15.11
Posted in Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments at 1:39 pm by Administrator
Last year I managed to severely deplete my vitamin stores, and as a result likely severely depleted my minerals as well. At first I didn’t know what was happening to me. I knew something terribly wrong was happening, but I didn’t know what. By November 2010 I decided to try biotin supplements, and within 2 days I definitely noticed change. Knowing that biotin was in the B family, and other B’s were also important with the kinds of symptoms I was experiencing, I quickly added a B complex and multi-mineral supplements. I found drastic improvements, but still by August 2011, I was not 100 percent, although “significantly” improved. So it made me wonder if there was anything else I was missing because I was still not 100 percent better. Or at least there was still significant room for improvement.
So about two weeks ago, I decided to add vitamin A. Early on I was reluctant to add it because of the dangers I’ve read about vitamin A overdose and such. But once I did add vit A in, all of a sudden, I started to experience more significant improvement. I’ve been very happy so far with the results, and have been waiting until I get to the spot where I want to be before blogging about it. But just today I ran into an article on vitamin B. The article is entitled, “Daily Vitamin B Pill Can Stave Off Alzheimer’s Disease”. I found the article very interesting and worth sharing. While I think my memory is still pretty good, I will say that when I was having trouble last year I found I didn’t have the mental energy to write about anything I had to think about too much. I felt I didn’t had the mental energy so I had even slowed down reading my books around the end of last year. Since adding my supplements, I’m back to reading and other hobbies. One of the great things I’ve noticed is that my sleep has greatly improved. I feel that I’m actually starting to get the kind of sleep that I used to have when I was a teenager. You know that really deep and satisfying sleep. It’s been a while since I’ve had that. My sleep did improve before (I had horrible sleep problems while recovering with AA), but so far this has been the best. I still have other things to work on like my digestion, but for that I’ve been using raw sauerkraut. So far that has been working the best for me. I’ve tried probiotics in the past that I didn’t seem to notice anything, but that’s another story. At least for now the sauerkraut seems to be the most noticeable at this time.
Hope everybody is enjoying good health at this time!
Marlakins
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08.27.11
Posted in Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments at 7:39 pm by Administrator
I just got back the other night from the Philippines where just a couple posts ago, I was writing about my concern about the possibility of radiation in rain. I had seen some videos from sources like “Connecting the Dots” who has been driving around trying to monitor the rain water in his area in BC. He appeared to be getting alarming results, but honestly, being the layperson that I am, I couldn’t tell whether the info was accurate or not. But I thought it was at least good to keep an eye on it and just be overall aware of the possibilities. But today I found that Antiproton recently made a video addressing the issue of radiation in rain water and how to properly test for it. I just watched his video and appreciate it very much. For those interested, click here to watch his video.
I really appreciated this video. Thanks, Antiproton! for helping to clear up some of the confusion and mystery out there. I also appreciate how he mentions that internal radiation is more deadly than external radiation. I already knew that, but it’s still refreshing that he obviously takes other sources of radiation and forms of radiation into account. I like to hear about other possibilities as well.
While in the Philippines I listened to an audio interview on Rense.com wherein it was mentioned that China had found radioactivity in the ocean about 800 miles from Fukushima. A lot of fish is served in the Philippines, so I looked up the distance. Apparently, Manila to Tokyo is about 1800 miles away. So I did indulge a little on the fish there. I know that’s not a fail-safe method of determining the safety of the fish! But at least it was good to know that the little fish I was eating was caught locally (relatively as some were not from Manila, but Palawan and such), so I felt a little safer eating them. Actually at the start of this Fukushima nightmare, I had decided that I wanted to avoid fish caught in the Pacific all together. Especially since a lot of the fish that we usually consumed at home was from Alaska and generally the Pacific, I didn’t like the idea of radiation contamination moving there with the currents. The quality of the fish was already questionable in my mind due to the oil spills such as the Exxon Valdez spill and all, now the radiation scare just put the icing on the cake for us. I know the ocean is huge, but I also know that there have been nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands, Christmas Islands, etc. That radioactive material is probably still floating around somewhere in there, and now this Fukushima crap that is supposedly releasing many times more radioactive particles into the environment. The problem is the types of radioactive particles that these nuclear tests and accidents release stay radioactive for longer than all our life-times. So the more that spills out into our environment, the more concentrated it becomes. It’s a very depressing and annoying thought. God made such a beautiful nourishing world for us, and we have to go and screw it all up. It’s just all very annoying. Imagine how God must feel regarding what we have been doing to His handiwork–rivers and oceans and skies all polluted. I’ll try to do my little part to help the environment, and in the meantime enjoy it as much as I can (within reason).
Here’s one spot that we ran around in during the rain in Antipolo, Philippines.
You can’t really see it, but it was actually just starting to rain at this point. We continued on down and took a few more pictures in the rain. This waterfall is called, “Hinulugang Taktak.” Apparently, years ago it was much nicer than this, so I was told. There was still a good amount of water as it had been raining so much lately. I didn’t take a picture of it, but not far from the bottom of the falls is quite polluted. See what I mean? Why do we have to ruin such beauty? Andrew took a picture of the pollution, but I couldn’t bear to look at it much.
I can’t help thinking of Japan, and how I’m sure their island has many beautiful places like this, but is now contaminated for centuries because of that stupid Fukushima accident. It’s such a shame.
Marlakins
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08.16.11
Posted in Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments at 6:42 pm by Administrator
Just checking my email this AM and found this response to Aluminum Studio’s most recent video. Any additional information to help us navigate the dangers in our environment is most welcome. I’ll likely follow “Antiproton” a bit as he seems to have some useful information to impart. Aluminumstudio’s latest video can be viewed here. And Antiproton’s response can be viewed here.
Wish we were getting some radiation info here in the Philippines. So far no one seems interested. No one talks about it, but then again back in Los Angeles, no one seemed to care much either except me and my family! Not even my sisters and mom seem to pay any attention to it, sigh. But one thing different here in the Philippines is I’ve been indulging in real butter again because here I have access to real butter from New Zealand. I stopped using butter and all other dairy products while I was in Los Angeles because of the reports that radiation was being detected in milk there. Who knows what’s here as no one seems to be talking about it at all here. And it has been raining a lot here, too! Practically every day there is some rain. Some days more than others, but pretty much every day rain falls from the skies. I wonder how much radiation is in the rain. As an example of how much rain we’ve been getting, here’s a pic of how flooded parts of the roads were not long ago.
After this shot I rolled up my window because as other vehicles passed by, water would splash in, ack! Ick!
Whenever it rains now, I can’t help but wonder how much radiation is in the water.
Hope everyone is doing well.
Marlakins
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07.18.11
Posted in Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments at 5:30 pm by Administrator
For anyone interested in the radiation news from Japan, I thought this was an informative video from an American currently living in Japan. He explains a little about geiger counters in this video. He also compiles various radiation measurements taken by locals and maps the locations out so that we can have a better idea of where these radiation readings have been taken.
Another of his videos takes the radiation info mapped out by the Japanese government and helps explain the data. That video can be viewed here.
Thanks, William, for stepping up to the plate to help inform us!
Another video I found helpful is a four part series of an interview with Dr. Russell Blaylock by Stanley Monteith. He helps to give ideas of what we can do to protect and fortify our health from radiation exposure. The first part of the video can be heard here.
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Marlakins
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07.06.11
Posted in Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments, family stuff at 9:05 am by Administrator
It was “ten” years ago today that I got my last blood transfusion! So much has happened since then, but the memory is still strong. Actually I start to think about my personal independence day every 4th of July because I remember that night feeling so weak I got dizzy laughing and had to move very slowly to stay balanced. Today I give a big “thank You” to God, and remember all the other AAers and MDSers I’ve met throughout the years. May God grant us many more “healthy” years with our families. I also think of those who have passed away. Sadly, there are quite a few. Memory of them and their families are also with me, especially on this day.
Marlakins
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05.18.11
Posted in Book Reviews, Church Issues and Bible Interpretations, Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments, History, Treatment Decisions at 12:53 pm by Administrator
For anyone interested in medical ethics and it’s history, I recommend Acres of Skin by Allen M. Hornblum.
Acres of Skin: Human Experiments at Holmesburg Prison
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Originally I was gathering information on radiation when I stumbled across an interview with Allen Hornblum. He was discussing why he wrote the book and detailed some information on medical experiments performed on prisoners. While he admits that there were experiments done at several different prisons, Hornblum focused primarily on the Holmesburg Prison in Pennsylvania wherein prisoner experimentation spanned over the early 1950s to the mid 1970s. These experiments involved many substances from soaps, lotions, shampoos, etc. for pharmaceutical companies to bacterial and viral experiments for the U.S. military, to mind control drugs for the CIA, and radiation experiments for NASA.
Personally I find it fascinating that humans can be so cruel and heartless towards one another. Seemingly “normal” people have perpetrated horrific things upon their fellow human beings. Things we ordinarily would think was “unthinkable” to do to humans have been, and continue to be, inflicted upon people as if they were merely animals or objects. I find the duplicity a bit scary and a warning to be careful that I (or my family) not fall into that trap of condoning unethical practices. References were made to the Nazi and the Nuremberg trials where some of the “defense” arguments some of the Nazi medical doctors presented were that “they were not doing anything that the American doctors were not doing themselves.” The experiments done on U.S. prisoners and the mentally handicapped are examples of what the Nazi medical doctors were referring to. One only need look into the published, peer reviewed medical journals to verify their claims. The obvious duplicity was that we as American’s were pointing the finger at the Nazi doctors as being barbaric and inhumane sentencing them to imprisonment or death, while we were doing the same thing, but thought there was nothing wrong with it. It reminds me of reading early U.S. history about how slaves were considered only 3/5’s of a person and that even their children were born into condoned perpetual slavery. That used to be thought of as proper, and even part of our accepted law. As a Christian I believe we are to love one another, and there is no distinction between color or social status. Yet, we see time and time again people abusing one another, both religious and non-religious alike. I find it interesting how we “justify” questionable actions if “we” are performing them, while we can simultaneously “condemn” the very same action if “other” people are doing them.
Acres of Skin helped me to reflect upon my personal feelings regarding the “ends justifies the means” mentality. I am conflicted because I know that I live my life using the very substances or technologies that I have found came from dubious means. At the moment I try to limit that use as much as I can, but I certainly am nowhere near eliminating all those derived “benefits.” Even some of the literature I’ve read to figure out ways to treat myself have come from very questionable experiments. Where do we draw the line?
Overall, I give Acres of Skin two thumbs up. Hornblum discusses many more examples of prison experiments, including quotes from interviewees (mostly former inmates who were involved with or knew about the experiments) and various people who would talk to him about the Holmesburg experiments. Hornblum also discusses the moral implications and the outcomes of various experiments, including the subsequent banning of prisoner experimentation and the closing of the prison as well as other aspects of Dr. Albert Kligman’s, the primary doctor who organized and operated the prison experiments, medical research and experimentation operation. I found the book well-written, informative, and easy to read.
Marlakins
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