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Saturday, 27 June 2009

  • Currently
    Watchmen
    By Alan Moore
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    The Jester of Pop Dies



    So these are some of my thoughts about Michael Jackson's passing:

    The Moon Walker
    Every kid growing up around my age in the 80's wanted to be like Mike.  Well at least moonwalk like him.  It was the coolest thing in the world.  This was around the time that break dancing was becoming popular too.  There had to be some influence between break dancing and Michael on some level.  We didn't desire to be Mike, but to move like him.  Even then we thought he was a bit weird. 

    The King Turns into the Clown Prince
    Whatever you want to throw in there to understand what happened from the time of Thriller to his changing actions and looks you have a large list to go from.  His childhood, abuse, child labor, family, fathers, brothers, sisters, Jehovah Witness family faith, his early celebrity, his self image, sexuality, burning hair, his seclusion, his adolescent behavior, his injuries, the press, the idolization, drug addiction, those who exploited him, his grandiose view of himself etc.   Michael unfortunate went from king to joke.  A joke he would later concede to in his turn as an alien in Men in Black and a few videos.  His strange actions as time went on.  From In Living Color to South Park, the joke was ongoing and never stopped.  Clearly, the guy needed both therapy and a true relationship with God, but his money and fame allowed him to avoid the internal changes and try to express the external goodness.

    The Backlash, Exodus and Islam
    Jacko fulfilled his wacko image by allowing or acting upon what people feared.  Was he abusing kids?  We may never know this side of heaven.  People are innocent until proven guilty by law, but the evidence still points to an unhealthy fascination with young boys on some level.  To a disturbing level.  The trial and his eventual exodus from the "Neverland" ranch showed the publics skepticism (at least in the US) of giving a by to his strange antics.  Thus, Jermaine sought to bring his brother into his new found Islamic faith.  We still don't know if Michael became a muslim, but I guess we will find out if he is buried in an Islamic fashion.  Even then we don't know if his family would play a role in that (either by his Muslim brother or Jehovah Witness parents).  Unfortunately, Michael seemed to dip his toe in a wide assortment of various religions and movements.  Seeking peace in some way, but never wanting or allowing any type of change to come about.



    The saddest part of this whole this is NOT about Micahel, his fans, his family or even his kids.  Those are sad, but it is NOT the saddest thing.  The saddest thing is that this event has overtaken an earlier event that had seen to be something that could have changed a large part of the world.  Not wacko Jacko, but the Iranian protestors in Iran.  Jacko has done the thing that the Mullah's in Iran were not able to do.  To get the focus off of them and on something else.  Now we get reports that Iranian Mullah is saying some protestors should be executed, but it is not front line news anymore.  It is more about Michael and how he died.  President Ahmadinejad and the Ayatollah Khamenei are not Michael Jackson fans.  This is sad, so sad on many levels.  

Wednesday, 17 June 2009

Thursday, 30 April 2009

  • Swine/Mexican/H1N1 Flu Treatment Theory

    So I'm going to jump right into this.  I figure knowledge is power and hopefully talking about this and getting good information is better than either freaking out and doing a million things or sitting there and doing nothing.  Rather than become a hypochondriac or just try to remain calm (dismissive?), I figured it would be good to just be informed and make some good decisions.  Hopefully.  Prayerfully.

    I will say at the outset I'm definitely NOT a doctor or med professional in any way. So take my "theory" with a large grain of salt.  Do your own reading and make your own informed decisions.

    So as for my theory: If you do catch this flu it may be good to take a statin drug like Lipitor (for cholesterol).

    First, check out this video. 







    Essentially what she stated about the "bird flu" and what I think is true with the flu we have currently is that the deaths do not come from the virus itself, but our bodies reaction to the virus.  In a sense, our body sees this as a very foreign and very dangerous virus and it freaks out.  It focuses it's battle at the lungs and you may die from your own immune system.  It's like what happens when you get an allergy except in this case this really is a flu virus.

    Then she takes a question about statin drugs and that it may help, but she doesn't know why.

    So I looked through a few articles.

    First, this article (Statins And Our Immune System) talks about how statin drugs work and they work in a sense by inhibiting the immune system:

    Key to this is a substance known as nuclear factor kappa B. All statins inhibit this vital step in our immune system's ability to defend us from alien forces. Whether by being the recipient of a donor kidney or under attack by bacteria or viruses, our immune system has evolved a defensive strategy in which suppression of inflammation, triggered by nuclear factor kappa B, plays a vital role. Such stimulants to inflammation include the foreign by-products of arterial inflammation and damage. Statin drugs are known to suppress this nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) response and thereby open a veritable Pandora's box of unpredictable consequences.

    This would not be good information in general, but it may be good news in this situation.  We have been hearing that many of those who died in Mexico where young adults.  Those who should have been very healthy.  However, it would seem that having a good immune system may work against you in this circumstance.

    Nevertheless, weakening your immune system to not overreact may not be a good idea when you also need your immune system to still fight the virus.  So this is not a perfect answer or it may not even be an answer at all.  Just a thought and a theory.

    Here is a second article that talks about how statin drugs have helped with lung damage: Taking Statins May Help Smoker's Lungs.

    So clearly there seems to be a link to statins and lung function. 

    Just a thought and a theory. 

Wednesday, 29 April 2009

  • Currently
    Open Surgery
    By Man Alive
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    Sermon Note Doodle Prophetic?? (& Prayer Request).

    I have had the tendency recently to doodle with my sermon notes.  Normally, I try keep the doodle related to the sermon.  The sermon this last Sunday was on the 6th Commandment...Thou Shall not Kill. 

    So as I am writing the notes and dealing with the slide show...I get the idea of drawing a heart rate line that you see on heart rate monitors.  I even make one that has a cross in the middle.  Also one coming through a wall.  Ok, this is all corny as most doodles are corny.  As I am doing this I am watching a friend of mine at church and seeing if he is paying attention to this sermon.  It talks about things I know he is struggling with.  Anger, hatred and reconciliation.

    Well it turns out that this friend.....





    had a minor heart attack or something similar to it.  He has a natural genetic defect in his heart that can mess up the electrical signals and start his heart racing.  He had not had this since he was 12 and now a few days after Sunday he is rushed to the emergency room.  I got to visit him today.  When I looked at his heart monitor I remembered what I had drawn.  I was a bit shocked.

    I'm not saying I'm prophetic in any way.  I don't think I have that gifting (but I think that gift does exist for the church today).  I'm not sure what to make of it really.  All I know is I was prayin' for my friend on Sunday and prayin' for him today.  I also ask if you could pray for him too.  He may have to get an operation to deal with the heart defect.  Thanks.  God Bless.

Saturday, 25 April 2009

  • Currently
    Seven Pounds
    By Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson, Michael Ealy, Barry Pepper
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    This I Used to Believe

    NPRThisAmericanLife

     

    Again I have had the experience of having God talk to me through Public Radio.  That is blasphemous on some level to someone, but this tends to happen.  So today while running errands and heading to Davis I was listening to a show that for the most part I do not like.  It is called "This American Life." 

    However, today I was struck by two stories they reviewed within a "This I Used to Believe" spoof of the other boring NPR bit called "This I Believe."

    So if you decide to click on the link and listen (or download) the show:

    At 16:00 Listen to Act 2 called: Team Spirit in the Sky.

    Synopsis: This past Christmas a story swept the internet about a football coach of a Christian high school in Texas who inspired his team's fans to root for the opposition team; a team from the local juvenile corrections facility. Among the thousands of emails that the coach received in response to his actions, one stood out to him.  Trish Sebastian mentioned her loss of faith, and coach Hogan got a message from God that he was meant to bring her back.  We Eaves drop on the phone calls.

    This bit is fascinating in many ways.  First, this coach at first goes about his initial discussion, I feel, in a very uncompassionate and matter of fact way.  He tries to prove an apologetic that she doesn't care about either way because it is an emotional and metaphysical issue that she is wrestling with.  The second discussion goes much better.  In the end, she is thinking a lot more about the existence of God. 

    At 38:00 Listen to Act 3 called: Me Thinks Thou Dost Protest Too Much.

    Synopsis: When Molly was in 7th Grade she learned what abortion was--and it sounded to her like murder.  Her mom, a pro-choice activist made it her mission to change her daughter's mind.  And went to extrodinary lengths to do so.

    This act is fascinating in that a parent who is VERY pro-abortion seeks to force her child to accept her beliefs in a fashion that appears to be very militaristic.  Something a secular humanist would think Christians do to their kids today.