rebelpleb

Much of the American public used Barack Obama as their mirror throughout the 2008 election cycle. They wanted an end to war, equality for minorities, universal “socialist” health care, tougher environmental regulations, corporate accountability. They looked at Obama and saw what they wanted, even though he never professed to espouse these values and never committed to any promises in these veins. Just like Bill Clinton in 1992, the disgruntled masses projected their hopes, fears, and aspirations onto the candidate for change, and he happily obliged by appealing to their needs with all rhetoric and little substance. Here was a bright, intelligent, attractive, somewhat self-deprecating and enormously charming man from a difficult background who no-doubt faced tremendous challenges on his path to power. Here was a man who could understand all of us who did not fit into that infamous “base” of George W. Bush’s. Here was the antithesis to the last eight years. How could we possibly elect th...

Ten weeks ago, I had colon resection surgery for a malignant polyp. At 36 years old, I had cancer. I have been a vegetarian for nearly 15 years, have not eaten red meat in nearly 20 years, and have been physically fit my entire life - I was even a college athlete. I possessed exactly zero risk factors (as defined by the ever knowledgeable medical industry) for such a malady. In fact, I had numerous “anti-” risk factors that should have placed me at negative odds of acquiring cancer at all. My reality belies these erroneous beliefs about health and cancer. A great number of our common health problems and syndromes (I refuse to term them diseases, because “disease” connotes known specific causes) can be attributed to our atrociously unhealthy lifestyles and western diets that lack nutrition. Cancer is not one of them. The notion that good nutrition, fitness, health and well-being prevent cancer is fallacious . And the unwavering hope that we will find a cure to this epidemic is just as f...

I wanted to say a few words about my grandmother - Nanny, as we grandchildren called her - because she was one of my favorite people on the planet. Being with Nanny and speaking with her always brought me great joy, just as it brought her joy to be with her grandchildren. Though it never felt like it at the time, our conversations were always a learning experience. From her I learned not only how to cook, but how to give, how to sacrifice, how to be strong, how to deal with life’s difficulties, and most of all, how to give and receive unconditional love.   From a young age, I delighted in visiting my grandparents. Those weekly visits to their Yonkers home, and then to their home in Bethel, enabled me to learn to cook from the master. I’ll never forget all the years of “caving” the cavatelli macaroni and leaving pounds of it to dry on the dining room table. We could never get to eating it soon enough. Every time I came over to my Nanny’s home, she had the most delectable leftovers in h...

My life partner and I sometimes take out DVDs from our local library here in Grand Forks , North Dakota . These disks are in appalling condition, full of scratches, gouges, congealed gunk, and a wide sampling of malodorous particles. It is true that these materials get used a lot, but certainly no more than the rentals from local video stores, which rarely suffer from the same kind of calamities. As we try to repair the carnage visited upon these disks so they will play in my computer, we try to visualize what people must be doing to ruin the materials. We envision Frisbee-type tossing that degenerates into even less advised drunken household stunts; we even imagine folks using the disks as mini plates from which fork-worthy victuals are carelessly tined. Why all the respect for rentals and not for the library loans? The first thing that pops to mind is that we might be held accountable for rentals but that library stuff is free. Pushing it slightly further...

In the May 12, 2008, UK paper The Guardian , David Adam reported that “carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has reached a record high…[and] climate change could begin to slide out of control.” He went on to write that scientific models assumed half of our future CO2 emissions would be reabsorbed by forests and oceans, but that these assumptions “may be too optimistic.” Of course, CO2 isn’t the only crisis in our world, but let’s set the shortcomings of scientific reductionism aside for the moment. The fact that CO2 emissions are increasing is no surprise. Look locally. Is there a decrease of driving in your town or city ? Besides the handful of folks that are walking or biking, not even high gas prices diminish driving. Couple that with the abundance of vehicles that get eight to twelve miles per gallon, and it might appear to the casual observer that there is no climate crisis or even a fuel shortage. Do we need to drive every time we go out? Are we really too busy to walk? Is...

Let’s start off traditionally with this tiny iceberg tip of a discussion on growth with a selection from a definition (The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition): growth 3. An increase, as in size, number, value, or strength; extension or expansion. To our civilization, growth in this sense of the word is something to strive for. Certainly, in terms of our stock portfolios, growth is always looked upon as a fine thing. Our money must grow. Our worth must grow. Our status must grow. Our possessions must grow. Our economy must grow. These are absolute musts in our society. No one wants the economy to stagnate. Share holders of a corporation expect capital growth, and CEOs are hired to make this happen. It is their legal responsibility to do so. Is it right, though, to expect growth to be something that should last forever? Currently, no corporation in the world would ever be content with zero growth. Negative growth would be a cause for great concern. Perh...

( photo courtesy Garrett Oie ) Two months ago my friend Kelli Auletta died of cancer. She was 38. She was a caring, effusive, warm, and welcoming woman who befriended nearly everyone she met. She had hundreds, even thousands of friends and acquaintances, yet she made you feel like you were the only one. She liked to live life to the fullest and fortunately, she had the ability and opportunity to do so. For the fifteen years I knew her, she was always present with care and support for me through all circumstances. I can only hope she felt the same from me. She fought her condition to the end and left with the same stubbornness, tenacity, and sense of humor with which she lived. Many referred to her as “The Social Director.” As she brought endless numbers of people together in life, so she did in her death. She will be terribly missed, having gone far too soon. Though the circumstances surrounding the loss of someone so young to a “disease” so epidemic are rife for comment, I find no com...

Washington D.C. - Spurred by a recent string of cases in which famous or powerful Americans in the upper 0.001% socioeconomic bracket have fired projectiles into the faces of other Americans (famous, powerful, or otherwise), the Environmental Protection Agency has been urged to set safety guidelines for similar future cases so Americans will know precisely how much being-shot-in-the-face is actually safe. Among the details in the 746 page Countenance Impact Study (CIS) are levels of safe shot size at particular distances given the gauge of the shotgun in question, number of grains of powder per shell, and wind speed at the time of the occurrence. Surprisingly, most buckshot is still considered safe for the being-shot-in-the-face guidelines, as long as the formulas listed even out across all factors. “Being shot in the face doesn’t have to be unsafe,” says EPA special studies expert Dr. Ralph Remmington. “Even twelve or ten gauge shot guns can have safe distances or powder combination...

10. Growth is good. 9. Globalization helps the poor. 8. Corporations and governments care about people. 7. Scientific progress is beneficial to living things. 6. A degree or diploma confers expertise or wisdom. 5. Money = wealth. 4. There are enough resources to endlessly supply our overconsumptive and wasteful lifestyles. 3. Consumption by the rich does not deprive the poor. 2. Cancer, heart disease, obesity, endocrine syndromes and neurological disorders (Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Multiple Scleroisis, Autism, et al.) are genetically inherited. 1. There is a level at which toxins are OK for living things.

Having liberated most of the developed world with his in-your-face, get-with-the-program therapy, Dr. Will decided to embark upon a quest to offer his unique brand of services to the rest of the globe. He figured that if the North could use his support, the poorer, more desperate South might respond to his aid even more. Dr. Will convinced himself that he was destined to reach all of those in need, considering how well-intended, well-received and well-off he had become in the past few years. First stop: Honduras. The setting for Dr. Will’s reception in this country was a newly constructed outdoor amphitheatre build from native old growth trees from the Amazon just for his visit.  Nearly 3000 people turned out for this makeshift, self-help retreat, but the focus of today’s treatment was an 18 year old girl, Rosa, jailed for the past five years and recently released. Rosa’s mother was concerned about her past acts of delinquency and rebellion against the state, and worried abou...

One of the few creatures we have found in New Zealand is the eel and his cousin, the lamprey. Over the course of my stay here, I’ve run into a practice unique to New Zealand that links the lamprey to human health. People who practice this sort of science, called Preying, use the lamprey to balance nutrients within human blood. There are a number of blood tests that can be done to determine the optimal levels of all the amino acids and other nutrients needed for good human health (if anyone doubts that I need the Preying procedure, I’d be happy to provide the conclusive evidence born out in these tests). These are not simple blood tests that look for particular flags like in normal blood screening. Rather, these tests reduce the blood into its components. It isn’t at all difficult to determine what these components should be for a healthy person. From there, Preying strives to regulate blood, to remove excess nutrients and leave nutrients that are correctly balanced. In this way, the ch...

Though most people are vaguely aware of the numerous ills that plague the global landscape – poverty, social unrest, disease, metal illness, ecological devastation, climate change – they often complain: “I’m so tired of hearing about all of the problems. What can I do about them?” I believe we cannot fully comprehend the severity and enormity of what troubles us without opening up our eyes and minds to grasp the full extent of our predicament. Each and every problem is wholly connected to the other, and to solve them, we need individual and collective systemic change, in behavior and paradigm. I also do not think people will be willing to sacrifice their superficial contentment and comfort without the full knowledge of why it so critical to do so. This blog is devoted to elucidating global truths about our lives and the life of the earth, however painful and negative those truths may seem to be. Writing about them will take volumes and fully comprehending them will take years of readin...