Lost in my mind, dark and unknown, i don't know what to do, i'm just so
alone. I want to be let out and set free, But I don't know who I am or
where I should be. I feel empty and hollow, I feel nothing but pain and
sorrow. My world is spinning and i'm on the ground, Everyone is gone and
I don't hear a sound. This monster inside my soul, It's taken over and
left me in an empty hole. I want out, want to see the light, But
something is there, blocking my sight. I scream for help and release, In
my heart all i want is peace. I feel the blood run down my throat hot
and thick, I know now the clock of life would no longer tick. My life
was over and i was dead, Now only darkness filled my head. He killed me
and took my life, I was gone, his love, his sacrifice. The monster
silenced me with all his might, No longer would I live or see the beauty
of the light.
-- anonymous
Friday, August 31, 2012
Held Captive
I lay still in my bed, hearing his footsteps: terrified creaking down teh stairs I hear, seconds later the moment I dread. I pretend to be sleeping with my eyes closed tight, my nightmare has come all over again. I hear you stop at the foot of my bed -- right about now I am wishing I was dead! You move your hands over me as I drift to a place that does not exist, a place where I am just a child, a place with no fear, a place with no pain. I feel your body as it presses into mine. My breath is taken from my chest. I am well aware this won't be the last. You achieve your goals, then leave. What have I done, I'm left all alone. The tears roll down my face. Please, please just get me outta this place. The years have gone by and I wanna believe the monsters will never hurt me again, I pray, and pray, never again, yet in one moment my guard I let down once again. This familiar stranger, I let in, with my eyes closed my nightmare begins. I know in my heart it's not gonna end.. His hands are on me, my clothes on the floor. I cry and cry but I'm a scared little coward who deserves much more. I've become his whore as his body becomes one with mine. Something in me dies, this little girl will be the same no more. My mind holds a pile of memories that I wish I could burn. That will not happen; it haunts me at night. Once my eyes close my nightmares begin. My reality becomes misery, but I give it my all. I've been imprisoned, the voices around me preach on and on "It's over, now time to move on", trying to convince me there is no shame. I try to forget yet once again the nightmares begin. It'll never be over; it'll simply start over again.
-- anonymous
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Spock Talks Evolution
I watched the original series Star Trek episode "Let That Be Your Last
Battlefield" tonight.
In this episode, Spock said, "The actual theory is that all life-forms evolved from the lower levels to the more advanced stages."
This highlights my scientific objection to Evolution; I see lots of "change" in life forms, in the fossil record, in everyday experience, in the lab, in historical records, but that change is overwhelmingly downward, somewhat lateral, and never unambiguously upward. Cave fish lose their eyes, serpents lose their legs, bacteria lose the ability to process a chemical which makes them less fit overall but allows them to survive in a weakened state in a small niche environment of antibiotic chemicals; finch beaks lengthen one year and shrink the next, only to lengthen again the next year, as weather/environmental conditions change from year to year; robust mutt dogs "evolve" into weaker but more specialized breeds, gaining perhaps a longer body suitable for digging mice out of mice-holes, but at the cost of weaker spines and shorter lives. When it can be demonstrated that some natural process (random genetic mutations, or hereditary passing of acquired characteristics, or whatever) can generate new, never-before-seen functions and organs and capabilities, not just on a "here's a possible candidate" rare exception basis, but on a "this is the rule rather than the exception" basis, then I'll be able to consider Evolution as a more viable concept.
Simply put, the evidence is lacking.
And the inability to distinguish between upward evolution and downward or lateral evolution, using the same term to describe all three phenomena, is what makes most people believe Evolution is true. The evolutionary proponents take advantage of this inability, "moving the goalposts" so to speak, by claiming in their books, documentaries, museum displays, etc, that "Evolution" (in the sense of upward progress) is a fact supported by a wealth of evidence, and then they trot at as evidence examples of lateral and/or downward "evolution".
In this episode, Spock said, "The actual theory is that all life-forms evolved from the lower levels to the more advanced stages."
This highlights my scientific objection to Evolution; I see lots of "change" in life forms, in the fossil record, in everyday experience, in the lab, in historical records, but that change is overwhelmingly downward, somewhat lateral, and never unambiguously upward. Cave fish lose their eyes, serpents lose their legs, bacteria lose the ability to process a chemical which makes them less fit overall but allows them to survive in a weakened state in a small niche environment of antibiotic chemicals; finch beaks lengthen one year and shrink the next, only to lengthen again the next year, as weather/environmental conditions change from year to year; robust mutt dogs "evolve" into weaker but more specialized breeds, gaining perhaps a longer body suitable for digging mice out of mice-holes, but at the cost of weaker spines and shorter lives. When it can be demonstrated that some natural process (random genetic mutations, or hereditary passing of acquired characteristics, or whatever) can generate new, never-before-seen functions and organs and capabilities, not just on a "here's a possible candidate" rare exception basis, but on a "this is the rule rather than the exception" basis, then I'll be able to consider Evolution as a more viable concept.
Simply put, the evidence is lacking.
And the inability to distinguish between upward evolution and downward or lateral evolution, using the same term to describe all three phenomena, is what makes most people believe Evolution is true. The evolutionary proponents take advantage of this inability, "moving the goalposts" so to speak, by claiming in their books, documentaries, museum displays, etc, that "Evolution" (in the sense of upward progress) is a fact supported by a wealth of evidence, and then they trot at as evidence examples of lateral and/or downward "evolution".
Doing Our Best to Do The Best
Most of us do the best we know how, we just don't know how to do the best.
-- wisdom from a friend, Sheri
Dr. Phil's Wisdom
I understand that Dr. Phil says that we teach people how to treat us.
I think that's astoundingly wise.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Making Health Care More Accessible
Health care - four basic biggies
Heart Attacks
Cancer
Other diseases
Trauma (stabs, car wrecks, falls, etc)
The problems we're having with health care are two-fold: 1) expense, and 2) lack of supply to meet the demand.
Both of these two problems can be addressed to a large extent with Do It Yourself (DIY) technology. There's no reason to wait two weeks to see a doctor, when some of the same information he can glean about your body is discernible using modern technology.
Trauma
For trauma issues, your best best is the Emergency Room; they're not called Trauma Centers for nothing.
Other Diseases
For diseases other than cancer and heart attacks, there's such a myriad of possibilities that there's not any one good solution. However, I've recently learned that for men, a quick, easy home test for prostate problems is a dollar-version of an Early Pregnancy Test (EPT) from the local Dollar Store - a positive result means you should seek medical care; a negative result means you're probably good until your next prostate exam. There are probably a host of little DIY tricks like this which could go a long way toward making the consumer of health-care more capable of being proactive in his/her own health.
There's probably not a medical professional alive who would go on-record suggesting an EPT for testing for prostate problems. If there was one case where the EPT failed to indicate prostate problems and someone developed serious complications from failure to seek professional help, that doctor would likely be ruined. So I doubt that the claim of EPT testing for prostrate problems can be verified as being a valid test. But assuming it is a valid test, how many other simple, cheap tests are available to address a lot of medical issues which are simply being buried by the current culture of medicine?
Cancer
Some cancers are detectable by blood tests; some are not. However, if we had a simple DIY blood test, available for home use, or perhaps at a $5/test kiosk at your local pharmacy or E.R., this could go a long way toward making early detection and treatment of many cancers a reality, which would save a lot of lives and lots of money.
I believe this is doable; all it would take is someone with the necessary knowledge to put it together, and then for some marketer/hospital to make it available to the masses on the cheap. This might cut into the profits of the health industry, but for those members of the industry whose mission is to provide care rather than to make money, it could be a means to fulfill their mission.
Heart Attack
One of the prime problems with heart attacks is the hesitancy to seek help. You lay in bed at 1am, wondering if this chest pain is a heart attack or just that last slice of pizza disagreeing with you. You could call an ambulance and rack up a multi-thousand dollar bill, and stay up all night in an uncomfortable trauma center room, only to find out it's just a pinched nerve, or you could lay there wondering until you die.
If we had a simple blood test to check for the markers of a heart attack, that'd go a long way toward getting people to the professionals when they're needed.
I had originally conceived of a self-serve kiosk at the local E.R. into which you put your $5 bill to pay for all the sticky-leads and etc of an EKG (ECG?) machine, but was recently told that a blood test is much more reliable than an EKG (ECG?). So how about a self-serve kiosk that lets you prick your finger like a blood-sugar test, put a few drops of blood onto a sampler, and presto, you have your results? "Yes, your blood markers indicate that you're having a heart attack. Seek medical help immediately." Or, "Your blood markers are normal. You're probably not having a heart attack, but it would be best to seek a professional's advice." If the blood test is really accurate, this would save a lot of lives, as well as money.
I wouldn't be surprised if a simple light-beam, or audio signal, etc, shone through the skin flap between one's fingers and into a receiver couldn't take the place of actual blood-letting for many blood tests, including that for blood-sugar levels. How many diabetics would appreciate that?
I think we can do this. Let's do it.
Heart Attacks
Cancer
Other diseases
Trauma (stabs, car wrecks, falls, etc)
The problems we're having with health care are two-fold: 1) expense, and 2) lack of supply to meet the demand.
Both of these two problems can be addressed to a large extent with Do It Yourself (DIY) technology. There's no reason to wait two weeks to see a doctor, when some of the same information he can glean about your body is discernible using modern technology.
Trauma
For trauma issues, your best best is the Emergency Room; they're not called Trauma Centers for nothing.
Other Diseases
For diseases other than cancer and heart attacks, there's such a myriad of possibilities that there's not any one good solution. However, I've recently learned that for men, a quick, easy home test for prostate problems is a dollar-version of an Early Pregnancy Test (EPT) from the local Dollar Store - a positive result means you should seek medical care; a negative result means you're probably good until your next prostate exam. There are probably a host of little DIY tricks like this which could go a long way toward making the consumer of health-care more capable of being proactive in his/her own health.
There's probably not a medical professional alive who would go on-record suggesting an EPT for testing for prostate problems. If there was one case where the EPT failed to indicate prostate problems and someone developed serious complications from failure to seek professional help, that doctor would likely be ruined. So I doubt that the claim of EPT testing for prostrate problems can be verified as being a valid test. But assuming it is a valid test, how many other simple, cheap tests are available to address a lot of medical issues which are simply being buried by the current culture of medicine?
Cancer
Some cancers are detectable by blood tests; some are not. However, if we had a simple DIY blood test, available for home use, or perhaps at a $5/test kiosk at your local pharmacy or E.R., this could go a long way toward making early detection and treatment of many cancers a reality, which would save a lot of lives and lots of money.
I believe this is doable; all it would take is someone with the necessary knowledge to put it together, and then for some marketer/hospital to make it available to the masses on the cheap. This might cut into the profits of the health industry, but for those members of the industry whose mission is to provide care rather than to make money, it could be a means to fulfill their mission.
Heart Attack
One of the prime problems with heart attacks is the hesitancy to seek help. You lay in bed at 1am, wondering if this chest pain is a heart attack or just that last slice of pizza disagreeing with you. You could call an ambulance and rack up a multi-thousand dollar bill, and stay up all night in an uncomfortable trauma center room, only to find out it's just a pinched nerve, or you could lay there wondering until you die.
If we had a simple blood test to check for the markers of a heart attack, that'd go a long way toward getting people to the professionals when they're needed.
I had originally conceived of a self-serve kiosk at the local E.R. into which you put your $5 bill to pay for all the sticky-leads and etc of an EKG (ECG?) machine, but was recently told that a blood test is much more reliable than an EKG (ECG?). So how about a self-serve kiosk that lets you prick your finger like a blood-sugar test, put a few drops of blood onto a sampler, and presto, you have your results? "Yes, your blood markers indicate that you're having a heart attack. Seek medical help immediately." Or, "Your blood markers are normal. You're probably not having a heart attack, but it would be best to seek a professional's advice." If the blood test is really accurate, this would save a lot of lives, as well as money.
I wouldn't be surprised if a simple light-beam, or audio signal, etc, shone through the skin flap between one's fingers and into a receiver couldn't take the place of actual blood-letting for many blood tests, including that for blood-sugar levels. How many diabetics would appreciate that?
I think we can do this. Let's do it.
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