--> G. Wiz <--

Patriot Gardens - Customers of Mine

2012-12-05T01:59:00.002+00:00

These people need your support: http://patriotgardens.blogspot.com/

Eostre = Easter? - Or Barbie Died for Your Sins....

2012-03-30T02:54:00.000+01:00

Finally I've been able to put together a little idea I had to celebrate the pagan holiday of Eostre.

For more possibilities of the origins of Easter click here.

Tim Minchin

2011-04-09T01:24:00.000+01:00

I first saw Tim Minchin while living in the UK - more and more his humor, wit & intelligence amazes me. Take a look at this animation of his poem "Storm".

Targeted Ads

2011-03-30T17:58:00.004+01:00

On Facebook:

The homeopathy of the East? So does that means it works as well? From the disclaimer from Qi Infusions itself, you can see they also believe that it doesn't work either.

NO HEALTH CLAIMS OR OTHER REPRESENTATIONS

Statements about our products have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products sold by Ethan Borg LLC are not meant to treat, cure, or prevent disease as it is defined by Western medicine. Under no circumstances does Ethan Borg LLC imply its products are meant to treat, cure, or prevent diseases as they are defined by Western medicine. The customer relies on the customer's own education and training in the selection of products. Please contact a licensed professional, such as an acupuncturist, when making decisions about our products.

Face/Palm

And - yeh, an acupuncturist, consult them, they're real professional medical ~~quacks~~ umm... practitioners.

Top 10 Creationists Arguments

2011-03-25T17:34:00.000+00:00

It's Disgusting

2011-03-17T13:46:00.005+00:00

On Sunday word hit Facebook that there was a Homeopathic company in Australia that was promoting the use of homeopathy to combat radiation poisoning in Japan in the wake of the earthquake damage to their nuclear reactors. Many bloggers have since posted their responses to counter this dangerous - life threatening idea.

Here are just a few: Phil Plait, The Merseyside Skeptics, The Punch & Ben Radford

Soon after The 10:23 Campaign posted their link to the story, American homeopath Kate Birch waded into the debate with claims of how effective these little sugar pills or bottles of water are in helping radiation sickness, malaria, AIDS, etc. This woman is either deluded, willfully ignorant or a dangerous scammer.

Lactose/Sucrose

2011-03-10T18:38:00.005+00:00

That's all - nothing else. Boiron, the homeopathic nostrum peddler claims that the active ingredient in it's product 'Oscillococcinum' is 'Anas barbariae et cordis extractum'. But as this is diluted 1 part to 100 for 200 times, there is nothing left of the original ingredient (Muscovy liver & heart extract). Homeopaths will claim that the water has a memory of the original ingredient, however this product is diluted even more. How? You may ask? It's then added to sugar pills - that dry out - so there isn't even any of the so-called memory water left.

I ask' Why waste your money on this ~~crap~~ con?

I like these disclaimers on the back of Boiron's oscillococinnum package.

Ask a Doctor before use in children younger than 2 years of age.

Stop use and ask a doctor if symptoms persist for more than 3 days or worsen.

If pregnant or breast feeding as a health professional before use.

Keep out of reach of children.

I would think there would be a risk of choking in 2 yr and younger. If you wait 3 days for symptoms to persist or worsen before seeing a doctor, you could be putting your life at risk, but cuddos for that instead of saying to increase the dosage. As for pregnancy or breast feeding? A real health professional would say go ahead, it would do any real harm (or good). Children of course would just eat it like candy - really expensive candy.

Look at the picture - the only ingredients in this is lactose & sucrose and only 1 gram of that per 0.04 oz 'dose'- . I'd rather spend less money (cost is $9.61 at Walmart) and buy some M&Ms ( $7.49 for 19.2 oz) - they'd be just as effective and it has chocolate mmmmmm.

This is how homeopathic nostrums should be marked -

There is a quote on Wikipedia: When Boiron's spokeswoman Gina Casey was asked if a product made from the heart and liver of a duck was safe, she replied: "Of course it is safe. There's nothing in it."

Okay - I did just do an 'overdose' of this - all 6 doses at once and hey! I must tell you this - this is much more sweet than the Arsenicum alba OD I did just over a year ago. There must be more sugar in it - it tasted just like a spoonful of pure cane sugar.

Still - I'd prefer M&Ms

It's About Time

2011-03-08T23:08:00.002+00:00

Someone has finally started an American atheist political party!

This is in the early stages, as the party was just founded, but has the potential to really take off. Take a look here on Facebook for more information.

HM's Shame.

2011-02-18T16:34:00.004+00:00

Last year while I was still living in the UK I signed this petition that said:

The House Commons Science and Technology committee has recently undertaken an evidence check on the usefulness of homeopathy and has now published its report.

The conclusions are unequivocal. They say "To maintain patient trust, choice and safety, the Government should not endorse the use of placebo treatments, including homeopathy. Homeopathy should not be funded on the NHS and the MHRA should stop licensing homeopathic products."

The government should implement these recommendations as soon as possible.

Today in my email I received this message:

You signed a petition asking the Prime Minister to implement the
recommendations of the House Commons Science and Technology committee
evidence check on Homeopathy.

Her Majesty's Government has responded to that petition and you can view it
here:
http://www.hmg.gov.uk/epetition-responses/petition-view.aspx?epref=nohomeopathy

I'm so glad I no longer am paying for the NHS to support this, now off to fight the fight here in the States (and no this doesn't mean I'm not going to support the fight in the UK anymore.

Ironically, while looking up the government links for this blog, I found this image in the heading for the NHS Direct site:

How can you trust a system that pays for homeopathic treatment?
In doing so they are giving out a signal that such treatment actually works.
There is a good sign tho - they have removed homeopathy from this site
(pending a review by the Department of Health policy team responsible
for complementary and alternative medicines.)

Act of God or Godless Act?

2011-02-17T16:38:00.006+00:00

In the 17/02/11 Oklahoma newsletter edition of "The Baptist Messenger" Bob Nigh (Managing Editor) wrote:

'Pro-life constituents shouldn’t be stymied by Rose Day cancellation'

Although a major snowstorm forced cancellation of the annual Rose Day observance at the Oklahoma State Capitol Feb. 9, Rose Day chair Heidi Wilburn reminds Oklahoma Baptists that they can share their concern for the unborn with their legislators anytime during the 2011 Session of the state’s 53rd Legislature, which actually began Feb. 7, and concludes May 27

Funny how it's not being described as an 'act of God'. I'm sure if this naturally occurring phenomenon had 'stymied' an event scheduled by a Pro-choice group, it would have been.

Flag photo by Steve Gooch, The Oklahoman

Weather map by Accuweather

The Woo Smells Strong in this one.

2011-02-11T16:47:00.012+00:00

Last year I took part in my first 10:23 ‘overdose’ and articles like this just make me laugh. However I do feel like tearing it apart – bit by bit.

Friday, February 11, 2011
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger (Who was that masked man? I don’t know but he left this sugar pill behind.)

Editor of NaturalNews.com

It's really quite hilarious to see this unfold: Homeopathy skeptics and vicious Big Pharma attack dogs are running around the globe in ludicrous demonstrations where they consume huge doses of homeopathic remedies in public and then claim that because they don't die of an "overdose," these medicines therefore don't work.

They are ludicrous demonstrations – because the whole premise of homeopathy is ludicrous – like cures like, the more you dilute a substance the stronger it becomes, water has memory then sugar has memory of the water that is added to it to make the pills. The reason we don’t die after the ‘overdose’ is not just because this doesn’t work, it’s because there is nothing in it.

Notice that they never consume their own medicines in large doses? Chemotherapy? Statin drugs? Blood thinners? They wouldn't dare drink those. In fact, today I'm challenging the homeopathic skeptics and other medical fundamentalists to a "drink-a-thon" test to see which medicines will kill you faster. But we'll get to that in a minute...

Are there risks with conventional medicine? Of course there are – but the risks are far outweighed by the benefits. This is proven by controlled testing, peer review & time, homeopathy has never been proven to work by any of those methods. Would I take an overdose of these? Of course not, but I will take the recommended doses – IF I NEED TOO.

First, let's get to the understanding of why the idea that you could "overdose" on homeopathic remedies is ridiculous to begin with.
Again – we know you can’t ‘overdose’ on homeopathic products – there is nothing in them.
It requires an elevated worldview
Teaching the so-called "skeptics" about how homeopathic medicine really works is a bit like trying to convince flat Earthers that the planet is really spherical. These skeptics, you see, approach homeopathy as if it were a drug (because that's all they really know). And in their world, all drugs are dangerous if you overdose on them, which makes sense from their point of view because they're educated solely in dangerous, synthetically-derived chemicals that are incompatible with the human body.

You're hardly promoting an “elevated” worldview, it’s more like a ‘throwback’ worldview – back to Victorian times and we all know how elevated their views were.

Believing homeopathy works is actually more like the believing the Earth is Flat. Trying to explain real medicine to a homeopath is like an astronaut describing a round Earth to a flat Earther.

So it may be understandable at some level that since this is all the medical fundamentalists (skeptics) know, they have probably not attained the level of sophistication required to understand the far more advanced mechanisms of homeopathy. It's a bit like trying to teach a five-year-old child how to play Mozart. And while that may have worked if your child was Mozart, it probably doesn't work for anyone else.

So maybe you could explain these ‘advanced mechanisms’ of homeopathy? Thought not.

Homeopathy isn't a drug

Homeopathy, you see, isn't a drug. It's not a chemical. So you can drink all you want and you won't overdose on it. That's not a defect in homeopathy -- it's a remarkable advantage! It means that while 200,000+ Americans are killed each year by toxic pharmaceutical drugs, no one is harmed by homeopathy. Not even those who are desperately trying to be harmed by it!

Can you give a citation for the numbers killed? No one harmed? Ridiculously dangerous.

It seems these skeptics really want everything to be more dangerous because the world of toxicity is so much more familiar to them. What these not-so-amazing skeptics would like to see, it seems, is more people dropping dead from dangerous side effects. Then they would believe homeopathy was real.

That's the way ignorant conventional medicine operates today: You know the drugs are kicking in when you start getting worse. Toxicity and conventional medicine go hand in hand.

Yes – medicine is toxic – it has to be, to kill cancers, bacteria, viruses etc, but,again, the benefits ‘outweigh’ the risks.

But homeopathy isn't a chemical. It's a resonance. A vibration, or a harmony. It's the restructuring of water to resonate with the particular energy of a plant or substance. We can get into the physics of it in a subsequent article, but for now it's easy to recognize that even from a conventional physics point of view, liquid water has tremendous energy, and it's constantly in motion, not just at the molecular level but also at the level of its subatomic particles and so-called "orbiting electrons" which aren't even orbiting in the first place. Electrons are vibrations and not physical objects.

Yeh – there are lots of problems with that paper that was self published by Dr. Luc Montagnier, not published in a peer reviewed journal.

But, oh yeah, I forgot. The skeptics don't know that yet. That won't be taught that in university physics classes until probably 2020, at which point most of them will probably be dead from taking pharmaceuticals to treat their own diseases. For now, they've all convinced themselves that electrons are -- get this -- tiny "particles" flying around atomic nuclei and tremendous speeds which just happen to stay in their little orbits like little perpetual motion machines (which they say are impossible), until all of a sudden, these electron "particles" inexplicably leap to a higher or lower orbit without occupying the space in-between those orbits at any moment. Yep, magic teleporting particles! That's the "scientific" explanation of these folks. No wonder so many of them are magicians: Believing their explanations requires that you believe in particle magic!

I’ll be surprised if this ‘magic’ is ever taught in a physics class. I say, "I’ll be surprised", because I plan on using real medicine to keep me alive past 2020.

But getting back to water and vibrations, which isn't magic but rather vibrational physics, you can't overdose on a harmony. If you have one violin playing a note in your room, and you add ten more violins -- or a hundred more -- it's all still the same harmony (with all its complex higher frequencies, too). There's no toxicity to it.

So tell – after the water has been put on a sugar pill and dried – how does it keep vibrating? Could it be............... magic?

Homeopathy works much the same way: You can drink a few drops or a few gallons. It's the same harmony being introduced into your body's living cells, regardless of the quantity. And drinking a few gallons of it will only make you urinate a whole lot, which I suppose the skeptics have been doing a lot these days, staring down into the toilet bowl with their pants unzipped, declaring, "I was right! I can't overdose on it!" Talk about expensive urine, eh?

Drinking a few gallons of water will “only make you urinate a whole lot”?? I guess you’ve never heard of hyponatremia or ‘water intoxication’.

It's hilarious, in fact, that those who would try to disparage homeopathy would even think that attempting to "overdose" on it proves anything at all. What it really shows is that they utterly lack any understanding of the underlying theories of how homeopathy works -- theories that Nobel Prize winner Luc Montagnier -- the discovered of the AIDS virus -- now publicly supports, by the way.

I don’t know why you don’t understand that the ‘overdoses’ prove that there is nothing but sugar or water in these nostrums. To sell this snake oil as a cure or preventative is nothing less than a scam and a fraud.

Bent on their own destruction

What really drives the skeptics crazy is that no matter how hard they try, they just can't seem to kill themselves. To be so out of touch with the beautiful, loving and holographic nature of the universe around us is to retreat to a self-loathing worldview that can only be resolved through self destruction. These skeptics just want to kill themselves... and they wouldn't mind taking a few of you along with them, too. Hence their promotion of vaccines, pharmaceuticals, chemotherapy and water fluoridation.

We’re not ‘bent on our own destruction’, we’re bent on the destruction of pseudoscience. This includes homeopathy.

These public demonstrations of chugging what they call "drugs" can only be called psychopathic "public suicide attempts" -- and they can't even get that right, either. (They're drinking the wrong stuff...)

Actually – we don’t call this stuff ‘drugs’ – we call them water or sugar pills.

I would suggest they try a few fluid ounces of their own medicines if they want to achieve the overdoses they're looking for. A few ounces of chemotherapy would do the trick nicely. Let me know if one of them tries that, and we'll carry the news: "Skeptic dies after drinking his own medicine. Story at eleven..."

No one would be silly enough to take you on this ‘dare’ – we know that there are ‘active’ ingredients in real medicine – the staged homeopathic ‘overdoses’? We know it’s perfectly safe – there’s nothing in it.

In fact, if these skeptics are looking to kill themselves, they need look no further than the tens of thousands of toxic drugs, vaccines, chemotherapy agents, radiation procedures and barbaric surgical procedures that they claim will heal you! Yep, the stuff they say is good for you is the stuff they won't drink.

Yep! I’m dead, because in the late nineties I had a ‘barbaric surgical procedure’ to remove a cancer from my neck. Yep I’m dead, because at 13 I had ‘barbaric surgical procedures’ to set my broken arm (not to mention the x-rays that checked my arm) and 36 stitches to sew up my body after I rode my bike into a VW that was moving toward me at 35mph. Too bad I didn’t have this hospital to go too those times.

And therein lies my challenge...
Why I'm challenging skeptics to drink a gallon of chemotherapy
I am hereby challenging the skeptics to a public drink-a-thon, each drinking the medicines we advocate. I'll meet them in a public place, and we'll each drink the medicines we believe in the most.

I'll bring a gallon of homeopathic remedies and healing raw juices, and the medical fundamentalists and their supporters (the more, the merrier) can each bring a gallon of the liquid forms of chemotherapy, blood pressure medications, coumadin, or statin drugs. We'll chug them in public and see who's left standing. The results get posted on YouTube for the whole world to see. We'll title the video, "SKEPTICS COMMIT MASS SUICIDE BY DRINKING PHARMACEUTICALS AS IF THEY WERE KOOL-AID." Jonestown, anyone?

Do you have any doubt which of us will be left standing? Sure, I may need to pee a whole lot, but the restrooms won't be crowded, because all the skeptics won't be needing them anymore.

That outcome, my friends, would be sad, but newsworthy. More importantly, it would prove an important point: Medicine should be safe for people to consume, not so deadly that you drop dead after consuming it, which is what often happens with pharmaceuticals.

But, alas, my challenge will certainly never be accepted. None of the magicians, skeptics of medical fundamentalists will be publicly chugging chemotherapy any time soon, nor any other large doses of liquid pharmaceuticals. Why? Because they know how toxic those chemicals are.

Of course we won’t accept that challenge – it’s stupid, as explained why over and over above. Yes we know that real medicine is toxic in large doses - but we also know why homeopathic nostrums aren't and that's because there is nothing to it.

Do you notice the irony here? The only medicines they're willing to consume in large doses in public are homeopathic remedies! They won't dare consume large quantities of the medicines they all say YOU should be taking! (The pharma drugs.)

And therein rests the truth in all this: Even the skeptics know that homeopathy is inherently safer than their own medicines.

No wonder they keep attacking it: If people found out about safe medicine, where would all of Big Pharma's repeat business come from? After all, the best thing about chemotherapy (from Big Pharma's point of view) is that it creates repeat business from liver damage, kidney damage and brain damage.

All these pharmaceutical poisons are so damaging to the human body -- and brain -- that these is probably one of the main reasons why the skeptics who take all these drugs are incapable of understanding high-vibration advanced medicine. A vaccine shot every year does wonders for lowering the IQ and killing off the creative thinking portions of the brain, after all.

So if you're looking for safe medicine, definitely take a look at homeopathic remedies. They so safe that even the critics can't overdose on them... but you have to admit the attempt makes for great entertainment.

A Vaccine shot every year lowers the IQ and kills off the creative thinking portions of the brain? You have reputable sources for this?

So if you're looking for medicine that works - use proven medicines - not nostrums of sugar and water. Homeopathy is no better than placebo - real medicines - medicines that work - have to be proven to work 'better' than placebo. Proof homeopathy will never have.

I’ve a challenge for you Mike Adams – take some of the homeopathic anti-malarial nostrums and then travel to a part of the world where malaria is endemic.

For an even better blog on this matter click here.

The owner of this blog - Michael Mills has never received a nickel from any pharmaceutical company.

Betelgeuse

2011-01-31T17:40:00.003+00:00

Betelgeuse - that far away red sun giant that is near the end of it's life, that is probably more than 600 light years away. Apparently it's hard to measure the distance due to its atmosphere, Phil Plait of the Bad Astronomy . blog calls it puffy. Read his blog explaining the recent controversy and why it's going nova is not something to be worried about.

So what does all this have to do with me? Well I have this photo on my Flicker account that I took way back in '09 in Leigh on Sea. It's a view of the graveyard from the tower of the church of St Clements. It started getting hits on it Jan 22nd. Today I thought to look at the stats - 14 hits since then (all from Google) - previously there were only 9 hits for the entire time. It's gotta be the whole (non) controversy over it exploding - so thank you, you fear mongering media for getting people to look at my photos.

Now off I go to put a link to Phil Plait's blog on the photo.

Care - Not Miracles

2011-01-14T15:54:00.007+00:00

On Facebook yesterday The Orlando Sentinel posted this: Gabrielle Giffords' recovery 'nothing short of a miracle' and a link to the following video/article:

Wasserman Schultz: Giffords' recovery 'nothing short of a miracle'

During the statement Rep Wasserman Shultz said “This is a woman who has more determination & will than ah, than anyone I know, this is not a surprise coming from Gabby Gifford.”

Then later she attributes this to nothing short of a miracle?

Rep Wasserman Schulz here are the reasons for your so-called miracle. It was a crack team of specialists & care workers at the University Medical Center.

Rainer Gruessner, MD, head of the University of Arizona College of Medicine Department of Surgery, praised the great work of the trauma team at UMC in Tucson and said when the tragedy happened, “we were ready and we were able to deliver in a way that is going to make our community and the state proud.”

Peter Rhee, MD, MPH, medical director of University Medical Center’s Trauma and Critical Care and professor of surgery at the University of Arizona College of Medicine Department of Surgery.

G. Michael Lemole Jr., MD, a leading authority on skull base surgery and section chief of neurosurgery at the UA Department of Surgery, who performed surgery on Rep. Giffords.

James M. Ecklund, MD, medical director of neurosciences, Inova Health System; medical director of neurosurgery, Inova Health System; chairman, Department of Neurosciences, Inova Fairfax Hospital, said the care Rep. Giffords received saved her life.

“Everything we’ve seen reflects the highest quality care,” Dr. Ecklund said. “Dr. Rhee’s team’s aggressive resuscitation and Dr. Lemole’s team’s precise surgical intervention saved her life. Her ICU care is equally outstanding, providing the optimum environment for brain healing.”

Col. Geoffrey Ling, MD, PhD, interim chair of neurology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, canceled a mission to Afghanistan to consult on Rep. Gifford’s case. He also reiterated the seriousness of her injury.

“She was shot. The bullet did enter her skull; the bullet did traverse through her brain and then exited out the back leaving behind some fragments of bone, so she is critically ill,” Dr. Ling said. “The good news is that she is, in fact, thriving under the very good - excellent - care here at the University of Arizona.”

From family members of others that were also injured in the shooting: Jenny Douglas and Crissi Blake said their father, Ronald Barber, Tucson district director for Rep. Giffords, is doing well after a six-hour surgery on Saturday and a second surgery yesterday morning.

“We expect him to be released from the ICU on Thursday,” Jenny Douglas said. “On behalf of my dad and rest of our family, we would like to give our heart-felt thanks to our extended family, friends and the community as a whole for the overwhelming support we have received. Specifically, we would like to thank all of the UMC staff, doctors, nurses and patient care technicians who have been lovingly caring for our dad and our family these past days. The level of care, compassion and professionalism is truly exceptional.”

“He is healing incredibly well,” added Crissi Blake. “His pain is being managed by his nursing staff and he’s expected to make a full recovery so we are really happy about that.”

Bill Hileman, whose wife, Susan, is still recovering at UMC, said there have been many heroes involved and thanked the emergency room personnel and every nurse, orderly and doctor that he’s met so far.

“I’m so impressed with the quality of care we’re getting from this institution and the quality of people, how they operate and the care they take for the feelings and sensitivities of those of us going through this,” he said.

Fritz Simon read a statement written by his mother, Pam Simon, community outreach coordinator for Congresswoman Giffords who also was injured Saturday. She specifically thanked Randall S. Friese, MD, trauma surgeon and associate professor of surgery at the University of Arizona College of Medicine Department of Surgery.

“The wounds inflicted are healing, thanks to the amazing care of the doctors and staff here at the University Medical Center and I would especially like to thank Dr. Friese.

Halloween

2010-10-28T21:27:00.007+01:00

Even atheists/skeptics can enjoy Halloween - it's my favorite holiday and a chance to let my skeptical hair down, so to speak. Reading Poe is one way.

Please enjoy.

The Raven

Edgar Allan Poe

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -

Only this, and nothing more.'

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,

And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.

Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow

From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore -

For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore -

Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain

Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;

So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating

`'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door -

Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; -

This it is, and nothing more,'

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,

`Sir,' said I, `or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;

But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,

And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,

That I scarce was sure I heard you' - here I opened wide the door; -

Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,

Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;

But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token,

And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, `Lenore!'

This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, `Lenore!'

Merely this and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,

Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.

`Surely,' said I, `surely that is something at my window lattice;

Let me see then, what there is, and this mystery explore -

Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; -

'Tis the wind and nothing more!'

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,

In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore.

Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;

But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door -

Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door -

Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,

By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,

`Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,' I said, `art sure no craven.

Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore -

Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!'

Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,

Though its answer little meaning - little relevancy bore;

For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being

Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door -

Bird or beast above the sculptured bust above his chamber door,

With such name as `Nevermore.'

But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only,

That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.

Nothing further then he uttered - not a feather then he fluttered -

Till I scarcely more than muttered `Other friends have flown before -

On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.'

Then the bird said, `Nevermore.'

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,

`Doubtless,' said I, `what it utters is its only stock and store,

Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster

Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore -

Till the dirges of his hope that melancholy burden bore

Of "Never-nevermore."'

But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,

Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door;

Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking

Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore -

What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore

Meant in croaking `Nevermore.'

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing

To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;

This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining

On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er,

But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er,

She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer

Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.

`Wretch,' I cried, `thy God hath lent thee - by these angels he has sent thee

Respite - respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!

Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore!'

Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! -

Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,

Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted -

On this home by horror haunted - tell me truly, I implore -

Is there - is there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore!'

Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil!

By that Heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore -

Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,

It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels named Lenore -

Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels named Lenore?'

Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!' I shrieked upstarting -

`Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!

Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!

Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!

Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!'

Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting

On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;

And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,

And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;

And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor

Shall be lifted - nevermore!

There is No God

2010-08-22T12:24:00.001+01:00

One of my favorite quotes is "I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours." -- Stephen Roberts

Yesterday in front of the Broadwalk Mall was a group of Muslims trying a bit of public relations. I think their banner illustrates the quote perfectly.

I also feel that the first sentence pretty much tell me everything I need know in the last sentence.

Too bad they didn't stop with first four words.

Going Home: Part 1

2010-08-13T07:54:00.007+01:00

I'm going to shortly (3 weeks) be back in Florida & in November is the election for state governor. I hadn't thought about this too much until I saw Bill McCollum's bid to win the Teabag vote by proposing a law on illegal immigration - that has the potential to use racial profiling in it's inforcement . (The proposal would require police to check a suspected illegal immigrant's status while enforcing other laws - BBC News)

So I've started researching the alternative candidates -Alex Sink, the Democratic front runner seems to be liked by several of my friends on Facebook. Friends, I might add, whose opinions I respect - but there is a third candidate, someone that needs a closer look - Michael Arth And his blog is here.

I suppose I should mention the other Republican candidate, ~~Lex Luthor~~ umm, Rick Scott Looking at his strong stance on issues, the word bigot comes to mind.

Face It

2010-05-15T09:11:00.013+01:00

A few weeks ago I opened a Facebook account. Why? Because I'm about to move back to the States & want to re-connect with many of my friends that I came to know through-out my life. I'm amazed at & humbled by those whom I have found & who actually remembered me, then still wanted to add me to their list of friends.

Of course there is one fly in the ointment - the friend who is now a fundalmental creationist. His first remark on my Wall was:

"Hey Mike, glad you connected after all these years.....after reading your page I find we may have some spirited debates (or not) :) about spiritual things. I'm an ardent Christian creationist. Let the fun begin :))"

Now I'm sorry, I don't think it's fun to 'debate' an 'ardent' Christian - I'd rather bang my head against a brick wall. You can't reason with those that prefer blind faith over evidence. After a couple of tries on his part to suck me into a 'debate' I rather stridently told him:

"I'm not going to be drawn into a battle between faith & reason. I am using my FB profile to find old friends & catch up on their lives, to let them catch up on mine.

There are other pages for debating this. It's not going to happen here."

I truly get annoyed with the fundy Christians that want try to convert me. I grew up in a household with a father that was a Southern Baptist preacher. I can see both sides of the argument & I can't see any evidence for, or any reason to believe in a creator.

The Bowl of Contention

2010-05-02T08:57:00.022+01:00

When my wife and I were still living together I had left the lid/seat up on the toilet 4 or 5 times in those 5 years. I would receive hours - sometimes days of verbal abuse over it. Now don't get me wrong, I don't believe in leaving them up and there is at least one good reason not to. Here are some reasons that come to my mind.

1. The next person using it might fall in.

2. According to feng shui
- you're flushing all your money away.

3. Millions of bacteria are spread by an aerosol effect.

Guess which one she chose to gone on about. Yep - #2 - I was causing us to lose money by some mystical bit of woo. Never mind the amount of money she ~~wasted~~ spent on magical crystals that were to bring us luck & wealth.

What is it I believe is the good reason? Well not #1 - anyone who sits down with out checking first can only blame themselves for the results. (Yes - I did that very thing just the other night)

Number 3 however is a very good reason - as putting the lid down limits the amount of contaminants spread by the aerosol effect. Think about it next time you put that toothbrush in your mouth. Please click on the title for a link to a NY Times article for more about this subject.

Now - if I could just get my flatmates to put the lid down........

Addendum: It appears my wife's view of feng shui toilet practice may be wrong, according to at least one site on this subject - the seat should be down, with the lid up.

To quote the feng shui hippo:

The Feng Shui of the Toilet Lid

The feng shui of toilets is very important, toilets are the gaping bowels of your lovely home.

Consider the Seat down, lid down toilet: the ancient art of Feng Shui teaches that a low seat means low energy, hence low qi. Not a happy feng shui toilet!

Seat down and lid up: the energy is rising! feng shui is rising...

Lid up and Seat up: happy feng shui - The wise should be wary of the lady of the house who counsels in favor of toilet seats in the down position! The Ancients have been leaving seats up for thousands of years!

Of course, woo is woo and neither one of these conflicting feng shui ideas are or can be scientifically proven, making them worthless. Just put the lid down and reduce the contamination - that has been researched and shows some validity. It isn't "lid up: the energy is rising! feng shui is rising..." but "lid up: the bacteria is rising! fecal matter is rising..."

Easter

2010-04-03T11:38:00.007+01:00

In one way, celebrated by thousands of children, hunting for boiled & colored eggs. The eggs were co-opted by the Christian religion to symbolize the resurrection of Christ, but the egg has a more ancient meaning. One of re-birth.

This year I'm celebrating my re-birth/resurrection of my obsession with photography. Many years back I had 'developed' a love of photography, I was in the service and film/processing was relatively cheap, but after I had my cameras and photos stolen from storage I wasn't so enthusiastic. Finally in the late 90's I started buying cameras again and taking pics, however due to the high cost of getting the film processed, I didn't take near the amount of photos as before. The cost killed the passion.

Last year - in March I was laid off (made redundant, as they say over here) and I took my check - purchased a decent dSLR (went to work with a temp service so I wouldn’t starve) and over the year I have finally rekindled my love. With well over 2,ooo images on Flickr, I would say it's an obsession - maybe even an addiction. I do go through withdrawal if I forget to take a camera out and shoot an image.

No - my photos aren't works of art - but I do love trying.

Happy Easter everyone - no matter why (or how) you celebrate it.

On Religion & Politics

2010-04-02T22:58:00.001+01:00

It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
Robert A. Heinlein

Bringing an End to Public Funding of Quack Medicine

2010-03-07T12:39:00.011+00:00

If you think homeopathy is harmless (the potions are either
just plain water or sugar pills) then think of this
the NHS spends money on these so-called remedies. (The Government doesn't know exactly how much, but estimates are in the millions.)
This is money that could be used to pay for life saving drugs
that are being denied to cancer patients & others
because the NHS deem the treatments too expensive.
If that doesn't convince you - think about the
emergency rooms that are being closed across the
nation due to a lack of enough funds.
Please look at the report just released by the
Parliament Science & Technology Select Committee here:

http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/science_technology/s_t_homeopathy_inquiry.

If you are a resident or citizen of the UK - Please
sign the petition.

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/nohomeopathy/>

The petition was created by Dave Cross and reads:

'We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Implement
the recommendations of the House Commons Science and Technology
committee evidence check on Homeopathy.'

Thanks to 10:23 for the email updates.
http://www.1023.org.uk/

UPDATE: NHS Scotland has withdrawn the funding. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-11475061

There's Nothing in it:

2010-01-31T11:16:00.011+00:00

Further to my last post - I decided to email Boots to find out what kind of 'interactions' there may be between paracetamol & homeopathic remedies.

Here are copies of the emails:

From me:

I read the info sheet in a package of paracetamol caplets and on the sheet it said: If you are unsure about interactions with any other medicines, talk to your pharmacist. This includes medicines prescribed by your doctor and medicine you have bought, including herbal and homeopathic remedies. What kind of interactions could there be with homeopathic remedies? Those 'remedies' are either sugar pills or water.
Many thanks
Michael Mills

From Boots:

Dear Michael

Thank you for taking the time to write to me regarding the interactions statement on the leaflet for Boots Paracetamol 500 mg Caplets (PL 17907/0001). Boots Paracetamol 500 mg Caplets are a licensed medicine and as such the labelling of the product is reviewed and approved by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (known as the MHRA), which is the UK medicines regulator. The statement referring to "medicines prescribed by your doctor and medicine you have bought for yourself, including herbal and homoeopathic remedies" is a statutory statement that must be included in the leaflet to alert users of the product to potential interactions with medicines obtained from a variety of sources. Therefore, the statutory statement is designed to alert the user to inform the Healthcare Professional, such as a Pharmacist or Doctor, of all concurrent medication as it is the responsibility of the Healthcare Professional to review the potential for interactions between medicines and advise the user accordingly. I hope that this information is of use to you.

Regards

Paul Williams MRPharmS

Medical Information (Pharmacist) Officer

Medical Services

Notice - no answer to my question on interactions.

Next (short & sweet) from me:

Dear Paul Williams MRPharmS So as a pharmicist - can you tell me what potential interactions there may be with homeopathic remedies?

Thanks
Mike Mills

Boots' (Paul's) reply:

Dear Michael

Thank you for you further e-mail regarding the leaflet for Boots Paracetamol 500 mg Caplets (PL 17907/0001) and interactions with homoeopathic remedies. I am afraid that although I am a Pharmacist when acting as a Medical Information Officer for a Marketing Authorisation (or license) holder I am obliged to only answer specific enquiries relating to Boots Brand licensed medicines from the clinical information that we hold on file. I can confirm that according to the clinical information we hold on file for Boots Paracetamol 500 mg Caplets (PL 17907/0001) no interactions with Homoeopathic remedies have been reported. However, the clinical information is based on information derived from reports made by Healthcare Professionals and from literature searches. Therefore, although no interactions have been reported this does not mean that the potential for an interaction to occur can be ruled out. Therefore, it is important that users of the product, if concerned about interactions, are directed to speak to a Healthcare Professional about all concurrent medication who can review all of the available data and make a judgment for an individual. If you wish to speak to a Pharmacist in general about interactions with Homoeopathic remedies then of course you can speak to a Boots Pharmacist in store who can give you personal medical advice.
Regards
Paul Williams MRPharmS

Medical Information (Pharmacist) Officer

Medical Services

Bit worried now that he said ' I am a Pharmacist when acting as a Medical Information Officer'. I wonder what he is when not acting as a Medical Information Officer.

My last (so far) email:

Hi again and thanks for being prompt in your replies.
Should I be concerned then that there may be interactions between paracetamol and milk (lactose), sugar or water? I only want a bit of clarification on this as homeopathic remedies are diluted so much that the only thing left in the water used in making these, is water. The pills themselves are either made of lactose or sugar.

Again many thanks
Mike Mills

Am waiting for the next reply.

Of course there can't be interactions with the unless it is an interaction with lactose or sugar, because in homeopathy - there's nothing in it!

Photo above is from the 10:23 mass overdosing at Red Lion Square, London - 30 Jan 10

Useless Warning

2010-01-28T07:59:00.013+00:00

I get headaches - I take ibuprofen & paracetamol to get rid of them. Yesterday I looked at the information sheet that was included in a pack of paracetamol caplets from Boots, the British pharmacy. Included in the info was a warning to contact the pharmacist for any interactions if taking any other drugs - prescribed, over the counter, herbal & homeopathic.

Homeopathic??? Does this mean that I need to ask if there might be an interaction if I take a candy drop & paracetamol?

Bloody heck!

Click the title
of this post for
a related blog by
PodBlack Cat.

Arthur C Clarke

2009-12-06T08:28:00.006+00:00

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

It's no wonder.....

2009-06-28T02:28:00.005+01:00

MJ was so messed up. With 'friends' like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roRcIoO1iQY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO3GnIkfa6c