Friday, October 24, 2008

Anticancer

Here's a short video interview with Dr. David Servan-Schreiber, cancer survivor and the author of Anticancer—A New Way of Life (mentioned in a post below on Oct. 23):



Here's another video clip about him from the CBS Early Show:


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Thursday, October 23, 2008

Obama, McCain, and Abortion

The video below is a compilation of the two candidates remarks on what we now commonly refer to as the "abortion issue." Is it incomplete? I don't know -- I don't know everything each candidate has said on the subject. But it does confirm what I have understood to be their differences: McCain is pro-life, Obama is pro-abortion (again, in the general sense in which those terms are used).



I'm not sure why it is never mentioned in the "debates," but perhaps the greatest reason for the Social Security system running out of money is because of the systematic extermination of 50 million future wage earners since 1973. Everyone knows that the current generation's S.S. payments are funded by the rising generation's wage deductions that go to S.S. The generation of workers that was supposed to fund the upcoming Baby Boomers' S.S. payment has been decimated by the legalization of abortion. Those contributions were never made into the system, but those who need the contributions are still alive. The 50 million aborted wage earners will not draw on the system, so theoretically within a couple of generations the system would balance itself out again. But those who voted for pro-abortion presidents who appointed pro-abortion judges will discover that the coffers are going to run dry because of their short-sightedness.

[Disclaimer: Is it possible that McCain has ever been inconsistent in his position, or Obama in his? Of course. So if there are errors of fact in the above, I'm happy to be gently informed. But I think in general terms, the video accurately represents the two candidates' positions.]

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Cell Phone Precautions

I'm currently reading Anticancer—A New Way of Life (2007) by Dr. David Servan-Schreiber, M.D., Ph.D. He chronicles his own successful (so far -- 14 years) encounter with a brain tumor and what he learned about fighting cancer along the way. The majority of the book focuses on nutritional and lifestyle changes. I'll no doubt be posting additional insights from this book along the way.

For now, because I have raised this issue before, I'm going to list his "Ten Precautions for Cell Phone Use" (pp. 207-208). I am among a minority of people who could own a cell phone but don't. My reasoning so far has centered on not needing one, but over the last year, in the face of increasing scientific research being published, my reasons are shifting to defending myself against the harmful effects of prolonged exposure of the brain to EMFs -- electromagnetic fields, created not just by cell phones but by cordless phones, wireless computer networks, computers/monitors, and a host of other electronic devices and appliances. (Small defensive measures against EMFs are coming online, such as this one for cell phones and these for other devices. I can't speak for their efficacy -- just noting that they exist.)

Due to the relatively short time that cell phones have become ubiquitous in our culture, only now are studies beginning to appear assessing their safety -- and the results of the studies, from what I continue to read, are not positive from a health perspective.

I am listing here only his 10 precautions without the explanatory paragraph that accompanies each in his book. If you want to read his brief discussion of each point, go to Amazon's page for the book, click on "Search Inside this Book" (under the image of the book jacket), enter "Ten Precautions" in the search field, and you'll get a link to the pages in the book where you can read the discussion. (Click on the directional arrows on the right side of page 207 to be taken to page 208. If you don't use this feature of Amazon, keep it in mind. More and more, the full text of more recent books are searchable at Amazon or at books.Google.com.)


Ten Precautions for Cell Phone Use

1. Do not allow children under twelve years of age to use a cell phone except in emergencies.

2. While communicating using your cell phone, try to keep the device away from the body.

3. As much as possible, stand away from a person using a cell phone.

4. Avoid carrying your cell phone on you constantly . . . even on standby, particularly if pregnant. (Turn it off.)

5. If you must carry your cell phone on you, make sure that the face (key pad) is positioned toward your body anad the back (antenna side—stronger magnetic field) is positioned toward the outside.

6. Only use your cell phone to establish contact or for conversations lasting only a few minutes.

7. Switch sides regularly and, before putting your cell phone to your ear, wait until your correspondent has picked up.

8. Avoid using your cell phone when the signal is weak.

9. When possible, communicate via text messaging rather than making a call.

10. Choose a device with the lowest SAR possible (SAR = specific absorption rate of the magnetic field absorbed by the body). (SAR rates for cell phones are available on several Internet web sites.) [WK note: Here you can find a list of the 10 cell phones with the highest SAR rates, plus SAR rates for many popular phones as compiled by CNET, a reliable source.)


Unless you are qualified to refute the above precautions, I would recommend erring on the side of caution. Your brain will thank you.
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Tuesday, October 21, 2008

What Obama Says vs. What Obama Does

An interesting article at AmericanThinker.com highlights two large promises Barack Obama has made and then broken. One is his promise to participate in the federal financing program for his presidential campaign and the resulting fund-raising limits, and his subsequent repudiation of that promise. That promise-breaking is pretty well known.

The other was unknown to me: His documented pledge to the voters of Illinois in 2004, upon his election to the U. S. Senate, not to run for president. From the American Thinker article:
"Look, I can unequivocally say I will not be running for national office in four years."

Obama gave a similar response to a question from a reporter that he dismissed as "silly": "Guys, I'm a state senator. I was elected yesterday. I have never set foot in the U.S. Senate. I've never worked in Washington. And the notion that somehow I'm immediately going to start running for higher office, it just doesn't make sense."
More than half the time Obama has been a Senator he has been campaigning for president.

Is he the first politician to make promises and break them? No. Has John McCain done anything similar? I don't know -- I haven't seen reference to it if he has. But this is another example of why Barack Obama scares me to death. He either knowingly says things that he hasn't carefully considered (immature), or says things that he knows aren't true (immoral). There are no perfect politicians or leaders, but I would prefer one that is more mature and more moral, especially when it comes to keeping his word, than the alternative.
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