First internet reference to UNASSIGNED OPTIMISM *UO

My condition, unassigned optimism, is not mentioned in any Physician's Desk Reference (PDR).

Here's the google search result: No results found for "UNASSIGNED OPTIMISM".

The funny part is, I was under the impression that "unassigned anxiety" was in the PDR.

But, HOW WEIRD there is only ONE internet reference to the term "unassigned anxiety".

Having suffered from what my shrink at the time said was unassigned anxiety, I figured it was a medical term!

So, never mind, I thought that this coined term UO could become a meme.

Yet, I get the impression that if you asked several people what "unassigned anxiety" means and what "unassigned optimism" means,  the anxiety definitions will be "easier" to create as well as more uniform than UO definitions.

So, in a null hypothesis survey format:

Hypothesis 1: When asked to define unassigned optimism and unassigned anxiety there will be no difference in how easy it was for participants (via self reporting) to define the term.
Hypothesis 2: There will be no difference in the definitions of each term when comparing the degree of variance from the mean of the definitions presented.

Hypo 2 needs some work but I think there is something measurable there, that can be differentiated.

However, if my assumption about unassigned anxiety is not true, then why would a meme ever happen.

I'll define it as I experience it.

1. I have unassigned optimism (12 step theme: first admit you have a "problem" (Condition?)).
2. I say "condition" since my shrink doesn't think it is necessarily a 'problem'.
3. I just hope it doesn't act upon me to neglect some real problem...like using herbal remedies to cure one's cancer *"but, I've got a positive attitude and never smoked"...
4. The term stems from a far more recognized and potentially dangerous condition: Unassigned Anxiety - from which I have actually suffered, many years ago!

The "trigger" of unassigned
Subsequent to a reunion of fellow work mates in late September 2010, I was quite recharged, renewed, and real "happy". I can't quite remember what "happy" feels like, so I suppose that's what it is.

Well, while this feeling has been on and off again since then, mostly it is on.

I am looking forward to a good 2011 work wise, and am implementing systems that will ensure success.

It was confirmed yesterday that my attitude (or, my 'tude) is just cocky enough to gain attention. Then they discover it's backed up by experience and great performance.

The Plan:
Systematize those most familiar, invite newbies to get my monthly printing newsletter.

PROSPECT 2 HOURS EVERY DAY. 10-12PM. GET IN AT 8, HANDLE ANY ISSUES, CLOSE BUSINESS, PROSPECT, LUNCH, APPOINTMENTS OR MORE PROSPECTING ALL AFTERNOON

I have instituted serious activity to lose weight and reduce other bad habits.

My outlook is unassigned optimism.

While I have no real reason to feel this way, it is definitely a good thing from a 'tude perspective as my UO makes my 'tude easier to obtain/maintain/sustain.

Having forgotten what happy feels like, I'll try to follow the lead of UO and proceed.

My blog gets world wide attention

My blog post made it all the way to Hindu Currents, a Newsweek for India!

The "single Pixel" camera captures images and provides encryption

This caught my eye and I think it is really important, but I don't quite understand enough of it to know why.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101220094601.htm

--
FRISH

HEY, ROY...Keep your Trigger outta my sandbox.

There's triggers, and then there is:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101223144030.htm

--
FRISH

Frish's Non-Shopping Network: Holobiont - a word that will be commonplace by the end of next year.

Frish's Non-Shopping Network: Holobiont - a word that will be commonplace by the end of next year.

Too Much Information

Meteorologist Heidi Jones, seen on WABC-TV's website, has been suspended from the station pending an internal probe.
--
FRISH

"Culturomics" - this could be: a.) important b.) fun c.) both

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101216142519.htm

A means whereby all of us can become social scientists as we analyze word frequency through the ages!

--
FRISH

This is your brain, on god.

Newberg told NPR: 'For those individuals who want to go down the path of arguing that all of our religious and spiritual experiences are nothing more than biological phenomena, some of this data does support that kind of a conclusion.

'But the data also does not specifically eliminate the notion that there is a religious or spiritual or divine presence in the world.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1339517/God-brain-Scans-activity-religious-people-meditate.html

This is somewhat stupid.  But not seeing the original paper may be the problem.

What they are saying:

Those who meditate consciously and repeatedly have brains that activate more of the frontal lobes than someone who isn't doing so.

1.  Those who do so learned how to meditate, thereby more neurons are involved just for that reason.

2.  Since the article states the frontal lobe is for concentration etc., why not have someone playing a speed computer chess game be monitored and see if it isn't simply the level of concentration involved.

Says nothing about much actually, wonder how the righteous will interpret it. 

-- 

FRISH

For those interested in origins...Polish Physicists model the Universe

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101216095014.htm

The article is high on fog factor, low on understandability.  (Space can be modeled as a fabric, with gravity causing the physical geometry (in three dimensions) and time is the result of applying values to particular points in space so that things can then happen!)

It is however a very important achievement to describe reality using math that doesn't violate cosmological observations.

-- 

FRISH

A mother's voice preferentially activates language acquisition areas of their newborn infant's brain...

While the actuality is a "Duh!", it is fascinating to me on two counts.

First when analyzing brain activity, smaller functional components are being identified.

Second is the picture copied below.  The sacrifices we go through for science.  Informed consent?  Say what?

Language Learning areas of Baby's Brains are activated by their mother's voice.

For preemies, or sick babies, or for those whose mother's die in childbirth, one wonders if a tape loop of the mother's voice is enough to produce an equivalent effect.

--
FRISH

Doctors Don't Need to Fear Red Heads

However, Red Heads have not been asked how they feel about doctors...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101209201944.htm

FRISH

Season of Birth May Have Long-Term Effects on Personality

Dr. McMahon, appreciated seeing this article regarding your research.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101205202510.htm

The headline suggested and you are quoted about how this could be misconstrued as  Astrology.  

I have a hypothesis about Astrology and your research may be one step towards validating it.  It may well be that being born at a certain time of year (and even place!) means a predilection to various traits.

The basic tenet of Astrology can be stated:

Being born at nearly the same time of year produces similar personality traits in that group.

What do we observe?

Besides the Moon and the Sun, not much else in outer space has any discernible effect on Earth.  So the stars are only significant in that they are changing their star-rise/star-set with the seasons, and therefore reflect what time of year it is!

Births, naturally, happen at an arbitrary time and place.  

I cannot conceive (sorry) of how that would make a difference in our personalities, all by itself.  

However, what do children born at the same time have in common?

Their mothers went through gestation at the same time of year.

Therefore, they ate the same seasonal foods (especially when near in place with each other as well!).

I submit that food eaten by the mother could influence the personality of the offspring, perhaps to an even greater extent than circadian rhythm. 

Perhaps both are important, or, perhaps I'm all wet!

Also, the egg and sperm that eventually became an offspring, due to the time of year they were nurtured perhaps personality traits are already cast.

The ultimate larger question is why do we have different personalities in the first place!  

It almost HAS to be evolutionarily beneficial.

Just thought I'd share, if your research happens to broaden from the temporal perspective.

Perhaps a topic for the next doctoral candidate with a bio background!

-- 

FRISH

English

Here is a recent thread you may appreciate.

 

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Michael (Frish) Frishberg

Date: Wed, Dec 8, 2010 at 12:30 PM
Subject: Re: English
To: Ellen

Normally I'd simply trash a misaddressed note, but I see you really are a teacher in NY!

 

I'm not Mrs. Frishberg however.  Chris Frishberg is a real person's name??? (JOKE!)

 

Is his father Neal? 

 

Anyway, Mrs. Frishberg has yet to see this message!  have a great end of year!!

 

On Wed, Dec 8, 2010 at 6:35 AM, Ellen wrote:

Mrs. Frishberg,
Good morning. Chris just handed me his book report for this marking period; unfortunately, he did not complete the assignment properly. He said that he lost his book report form and that you remembered the questions, so he was able to complete the assignment. It is obvious to me that Chris did read his book and understands the plot of the novel; however; he is still required to complete the assigned book report. I have given Chris a new copy of the assignment; he may take some time to complete it and hand it in on Monday. Thank you for your assistance with this assignment. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Happy Holidays,
Ellen
Greshem High School
Special Education Department

World Running Out Of New Places To Fish: Study

That headline had me thinking - an Onion story.

However, 

http://planetark.org/wen/60489

We (or "proto-we") have managed to stick around for maybe 500,000 to 1,000,000 years so far. 

Never forget, evolution is all about what remains, it isn't about 'progress' in any particular direction.

Human Nature has worked pretty well, so far:  

Nest, Spoil Nest, Seek New Nest

Prehistoric humans put essentially zero stress on the Ocean's fish populations.

Our nutrition was overwhelmingly land based.

Now we are the top predator by a factor of 100X+...

We fish the other predators (like sharks) with even less mercy than we show the rest of the catch.

It makes one wonder, on a healthy planet, can any seafood be available to feed humans?

I googled "2050 fisheries".  Seemed innocent enough.  Here's the query's result:

2050 Fisheries

-- 

FRISH

Architecture is for the birds

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101203081805.htm

--
FRISH

Holobiont - a word that will be commonplace by the end of next year.

Just Frish's prediction for 2011.

As I write this 2:56 PM PST Sunday December 5, 2010 there are only 13,300 references to holobiont on the WWW.

-- 

FRISH

Secular Prayer Haiku in anticipation of 2011

may our electrons 

find the most judicious path  

continuously

now here from no where

consciously taking "in-sights"  

ephemeral life

all our memories

in brain's metabolism

trust in chemistry 

-- 

FRISH

To a select few aficionados

1. Got here by accident

2. You may appreciate this experience

3. Dr. Demento, wherever you are...

4. Go to this site

5. Find the "Preview all" button (scroll down the middle of the page)

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/kehoenation

Mostly I like the song titles.  Especially number 10.
--
FRISH

Man exposes himself in Pickrell Tavern ("Who else would he expose?", asks Frish)

Found this in my gmail drafts folder, which doesn't necessarily mean that I didn't already send it.  

As I learned in the UK, "better twice than not at all".

Beatrice Daily Sun Online Posted: Tuesday, November 2, 2010 6:00 am

Gage County Sheriff's Deputies responded to an incident in Pickrell early Sunday morning in which a male subject exposed himself to two females.

According to a press release from the sheriff's office, the subject was wearing a Zoot suit costume at the Pickrell Tavern and exposed his genitals to the females. He also made crude sexual comments and sexual advances towards them.

The investigation revealed that the subject was part of a group of Halloween revelers from Lancaster County.

The Sheriff's office is asking anyone with information on the incident to call the sheriff's office at 223-5222 or Gage County Crime Stoppers at 228-4343.

FRISH

How cell replication proceeds - implications for nano machinery

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101124171542.htm

"Asbury said, "Intact, functional kinetochores had not previously been isolated from any organism." The purification of the kinetochores allowed the research team to make the first direct measurements of coupling strength between individual kinetechore particles and dynamic microtubules."

"Asbury likened the stabilizing tension on the filament to a Chinese finger trap toy -- the harder you try to pull away, the stronger your knuckles are gripped."

-- 

FRISH

The world's demographics...When will those over 50 outnumber those under 50?

This is a letter to several groups, including CASS - Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Had an opportunity to enjoy the following article:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101126094441.htm

Plenty of notable quotable facts and observations.

Low mortality and low fertility results in a steadily aging population in almost all parts of the world, outside of Africa.

Women outlive men the most in Russia.  What are the implications for Russian children to only have older role models that are exclusively female? 

I find this telling however..

"In August the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) presented a surprising report, in which the researchers urged the authorities to quickly bring the one-child policy to an end. The Chinese social scientists argued instead that people should be encouraged to have more children.

Researchers at CASS have found that it may be difficult to get Chinese people to have more children in the years to come, even if the authorities abandon their current stringent policy. In important areas of China, Chinese women will on average have fewer than 1.5 children in any case, the researchers warn. In order to maintain the current population level women need to have an average of 2.1 children each."

Warn (my emphasis)?  

Consider: A shrinking population doesn't fit into current growth plans.

And:        Those plans don't take into account the public harms that unlimited growth produces.

Having fewer humans has got to be a good thing...from the perspective of the future of the planet's ability to sustain human life, and from the perspective of those future humans!

Therefore, since the "natural" tendency according to CASS Research is for fewer children per family than replacement, why not encourage it, or at least have public/private management plans match the facts, instead of "warning" plan managers of too few people?

Their encouragement of lifting the one child rule may also be motivated by more "democratic" reasons, as the involuntary restriction on human fertility/fecundity are distressing on many of the millions affected.  It is a fascinating social experiment however, and shows how quickly human behavior can change.

--

FRISH

2007 Fire Way Up North worst in 5000 years!

(We are born childfree, glad I managed to keep it that way!  Here's another example of why no one should have children!)

In September, 2007, the Anaktuvuk River Fire burned more than 1,000 square kilometers of tundra on Alaska's North Slope, doubling the area burned in that region since record keeping began in 1950. A new analysis of sediment cores from the burned area revealed that this was the most destructive tundra fire at that site for at least 5,000 years.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101117141516.htm

--
FRISH

It's in Spanish, but the image is universal

Seems she just doesn't quite appreciate the user interface!

A loose translation: " When we come to this, it's time to retire.  HaHaHaHaHa"

Cuando lleguemos a esto , hay que jubilarse…….jajajajaja

Bicycle Monorail plus Bjorn Lomberg

This note is convoluted, enjoy, eventually it all ties together.

First a little missive from my friend, Thinkenstein...

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Thinkenstein

http://www.flixxy.com/cycle-powered-monorail-future-transportation.htm

Aerodynamic bicycle pods that hang under a monorail track.  I want these in the termite nest city!  

-----------            ----------------

P.S. Thinkenstein is living in a set of nested geodesic domes of his own invention, and manufacture, as for 35 years he's been living on top of a rain forested mountain in Puerto Rico, contemplating how to save the world.  Hence the "termite nest city" concept, as a way to have loads of people taking up far less space, resources, and, being concentrated, far less damaging to the general environment, but not noticing so much!

Topic Two:

Danish economist Bjorn Lomberg brings out the documentary "Cool It."

As I heard him interviewed regarding his perspective on Human Caused Climate Chaos. (HCCC - A Frishbergism).

Paraphrasing: "We need to be innovative and find an energy source that is cheaper than petroleum, and not so polluting.  Then we'd use far less petroleum."

(To quote Homer Simpson, "Doh! Why didn't I think of that.")

He simply is urging "innovation".  The child of necessity.  Necessity we already have, but few acknowledge that fact.

At least he attempted to name a solution to the situation, which I think Gore's Inconvenient Truth lacked.  

Yet he also made the most amazing statement, that it isn't too late already.  

How the heck would he know that?  I disagree, and point to so many factors it is difficult to know where to start.

I guess I'll have to see the movie now, perhaps there is more to it, but so far I'm unimpressed.   

Seems to me, there are plenty of VERY well funded organizations who know exactly when the petrol will run out and have "everything to lose" so if they aren't already committing billions to an alternative energy source or three, then who would?

If any of those governmental or industrial concern had such tech, the competitive advantage would far outweigh taking down their brethren petrol-cos or governments for that matter... 

There is no "low hanging fruit" when it comes to easy, cheap, nonpolluting, (non-nuclear), energy.  Or someone would have figured it out already.  Talk about a big market!

Sure, solar panels may improve x% per year for many years, and eventually enable a distributed power grid or whatever, but we're talking decades minimum.

And, until then, China is opening x number of NEW COAL POWERED ELECTRICAL PLANTS per  WEEK.

Here's some good news:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/world/asia/11coal.html  Seems the Chinese have a chance to build cleaner coal plants than the US.

Oops, here's the other news and the more you read the more depressing:

http://www.google.com/search?aq=f&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=new+coal+plants+in+china

"If China's carbon usage keeps pace with its economic growth, the country's carbon dioxide emissions will reach 8 gigatons a year by 2030, which is equal to the entire world's CO2 production today."

"China built at least 78 gigawatts of energy capacity in 2007 alone, which brought the country over 700 gigawatts of total capacity. The vast majority of that increase, of course, came from coal fired power plants. (US capacity is around 900 gigawatts.)"  

Oh, and don't forget how the agricultural degradation due to Human Caused Climate Chaos will severely impact harvests in China by 2030, or, how there is a coming of age creche of boys that massively outnumber girls in their cohort.  Both resource shortages and testosterone point to a military solution.  

That's all reason to get real nervous about China...they aren't going to slow their dependence on coal/petrol anytime soon.

Interesting science news on the social order of ants and how the act with "wisdom".  

http://www.economist.com/node/13437908

So, from Thinkensteins determination that his termite city would be a great way to go, to the scientific conclusion that ants act with "wisdom" (obviously they act in a way that provides for the next generation of ants to survive, we put the label of wisdom on their behavior!).

Too bad termite cities and crowds of humans acting with wisdom are both so unlikely.

New word (to me anyway)...Hustler Channel coming soon...

Help me obiwankenobi...or whatever...

A hogel (short for holographic pixel) is the three-dimensional version of a pixel, the basic units that make up the picture

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101103141527.htm
--
FRISH

lower population and prosperity...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101103082304.htm

--
FRISH

What I sent the White House tonight...

Obama's abreaction.

Obama will be tarred and feathered for being a bleeding heart liberal.

It feels bad?  What kind of a commander in chief says: It feels bad?

To quote Governor The-Quitter Palin: "Man up."

Here's what I would suggest to the White House strategists:

We are all in-born with a sense of justice.  Even poor people.

BushCo, Wall Street, Haliburton, BP, and any and all types of "renditions", and on and etc....

All need to come to justice.  Watergate was necessary, this is far more necessary.

Until we resolve a whole lot of injustice, the American people won't want to participate much.  

Yet, our enemies will be ever more motivated.

Justice Haiku:

I say: "Bring it on"!

Justice: It's the real thing!

By Rule Of Law

-- 

FRISH

For those who wonder if life is only on Earth

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/330/6004/571-a?rss=1

--
FRISH

Some weasel stole my MSEL...

http://www.historycommons.org/timeline.jsp?day_of_9/11=ua93&timeline=complete_911_timeline&startpos=200

--
FRISH

Saw "Hereafter", oof.

I got exactly ZERO from this movie.  There is nothing.  Therefore nothing to refute.

She mumbles something, at one thin part of the film, about "scientific evidence" of whatever.

I was coerced to go and I could feel my life energy being sucked out of me throughout this inanity.

Produced and Directed by Clint Eastwood

Executive Producer Steven Spielberg

1. Matt Damon is a "real" psychic, somehow bio-engineered as a youth to communicate with the dead.

2. Someone undergoes a near death experience, and now is an expert.

3. A kid, whose twin died, is motivated to speak with his brother.

"See their lives intertwine"  or whatever, I mean c'mon, that's all you can give us? 

Being a monist, I have the afterlife answer:  When you breath out your last breath you die.  

See ya', Sayanara, b'bye, ciao, hasta, etc.  "That's all folks!"

Actually, no reason for it to be otherwise (literally!).

FRISH

Thought this was from the Onion when I first read the headline...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101021152401.htm

Plants Play Larger Role Than Thought in Cleaning Up Air Pollution, Research Shows

Yes, well, that didn't seem revolutionary.

However, the short article is a terse and digestible explanation of a lot of plant biology.

The complexities of the world are continuously affected by the law of unintended consequences.

Here's my takeaway:

1. We pollute and thereby put trees under stress.

2. They are now taking up the pollutants since they do that as a reaction to stress.

3. The reason geo-engineering cannot work is because we don't know squadoosh about how things are supposed to work, therefore, how can we know what to do to keep the environment safe for the biosphere?
--
Frish

Coke: The "working end" of globalization...

Oh, how environmentally and nutritionally benign is Coca Cola.

http://www.livepositively.com/en_us/pdf/livepositiveqaguide.pdf

What is known in the public relations business as a Puff Piece.  Love the FAQ format.

Consider this little factoid: 

almost 1.5 billion servings of the Company's products are being consumed every day, WORLDWIDE.

I'm sure nothing good can come of more people in more places being able to afford more carbonated sugar water in a package that breeds mosquitoes when casually discarded.

Let's Live (Positively?) Long and Die Out.  

This next little snippet is from a related site...they are using social networking (perhaps Coke's facebook friends...) to assist in lobbying efforts.

CAN - Community Action Network (YOU CANNOT MAKE THIS STUFF UP!)

"Whenever an issue comes up that would change our day to day lives, CAN goes to work getting important information to its members. 

For example, did you know that right now your favorite Coca-Cola beverages could cost more because of new, special taxes that are under consideration?"

I'm calling my representative, immediately.
--
Frish

20 stone plates broken in honor of the G20 meeting in Seoul

CLF - In a small room on the roof, cent Mex, 5:00 AM

(CLF is CraigsListForum, in this case Haiku Hotel...I sent it to myself to document how sending a haiku from CL looks today, 10.10.2010)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, Oct 10, 2010 at 10:55 PM
Subject: CLF - In a small room on the roof, cent Mex, 5:00 AM

a craigslist forums reader named 'frish' has sent you this.

note from frish: wonder what this looks like...
---------------------------------------------
posted in craigslist forums haiku hotel

posted by frish (10/10):

In a small room on the roof, cent Mex, 5:00 AM:

To keep chastity
When visiting girlfriend
Nineteen Seven Five

Her Dad and I slept
In the room above kitchen
Next to bird cages...

Father-in-Law SNORES
Were answered, by the turkey's
insane gobbling

Practically watched as
Paint peeled.....then BELLS PEALED...
Cathedral at 5

---------------------------------------------------
*** to respond, or to view this posting in context:
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/forums/?ID=171470570

To those who might care about how women influence group intelligence

Collective Intelligence: Number of Women in Group Linked to Effectiveness in 

Solving Difficult Problems

ScienceDaily (Oct. 2, 2010) — When it comes to intelligence, the whole can indeed be greater than the sum of its parts. A new study co-authored by MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, and Union College researchers documents the existence of collective intelligence among groups of people who cooperate well, showing that such intelligence extends beyond the cognitive abilities of the groups' individual members, and that the tendency to cooperate effectively is linked to the number of women in a group.

(see article at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100930143339.htm for more)

Frish

A UN Mission regarding The Future Of Cities...

UN Habitat's mission:

"... to promote socially and environmentally sustainable human settlements development and the achievement of adequate shelter for all."

http://www.unhabitat.org/pmss/listItemDetails.aspx?publicationID=2998

Didn't check out the whole site, or other pubs, or even this one, although I did down load it.

I find it somewhat interesting that long term planning or interest in urban life exists at a global level.

Cities are the "eternal" measure of human organization even if they started out as quite a messy business.

Those who lived in early cities were beset by diseases unknown amongst the hunter gatherers/horticulturalists who proceeded them.

However, calendars, accounting, writing, division of labor, concentration of labor and markets in cities supported by agriculture was a far more stable way of life.

And, ultimately unsustainable.  Because it provides for unlimited human population growth.  Ooops.

I think the mission statement is difficult to achieve regardless of what adequate means.

The demands of the world's biggest cities will be incredible over the next decades.

Frish

According to Pew

So, I'm an atheist and Jewish therefore I know more about religion than the righteous.  

http://www.pewtrusts.org/news_room_detail.aspx?id=60976

"Know thy enemy."

Sorry, that may have been too strident.  How about:

"All the better to trip them up" (Wolf of Hooded Red Rider Fame and my middle name (for real!))

Oops, still too predatory...

"I enjoy evaluating the irrational."  

(That's better, passes "truthiness" test.  And, has a 4 syllable word, definitely will be "Passed Over" if ya know what I mean...)

Just the thing, my new signature...

Frish

I enjoy evaluating the irrational.

Answer to "But our child may be 'THE ONE'!"

The other problem which would counter any justification for breeding such a "savior of the world", even if we could know that would be the result with certainty before conception, is that which I encountered in an antinatalist book. Namely, that all lives brings suffering. Lack of life (nonconception) cannot bring suffering since there is no one to suffer. Even conception of someone who could solve the problems of the world would be a negative from that person's standpoint. As I thoroughly expect things to get worse before they collapse completely, conception of any child at this time is tantamount to child abuse.

It cannot be justified.

Beth

Maternal Mortality: Can We Talk About Sex (at the UN)?

From the Huffington Post  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/evelyn-leopold/maternal-mortality-can-we_b_731096.html?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=092010&utm_medium=email&utm_content=BlogEntry

Evelyn Leopold Veteran reporter at the United Nations  September 20, 2010 03:07 AM

Maternal Mortality: Can We Talk About Sex (at the UN)?

UNITED NATIONS - The statistics for maternal mortality have improved by 34 percent. That means a woman is no longer dying every minute, but one woman is still dying every minute and a half.

No doubt prenatal care, malnutrition, access to a hospital and skilled practitioners and professionals could prevent most of the deaths. As could education for girls that keeps them in school longer.

But the squeamishness of talking about family planning or contraception -- in short sex -- is a no-no in many nations. An estimated 215 million women in the developing world want to delay or avoid pregnancy but have no access to contraception or fear the side effects or their families object, says the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).

With President Obama participating, the United Nations is holding a summit this week on its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the world's most ambitious program to slash poverty by 2015. While the glass is half empty on many of the goals, the decline in deaths of pregnant women is nowhere near the target of a 75-percent reduction by 2015.

Consequently, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon scheduled a side-event on the deaths of pregnant women and children under five years of age on Wednesday, the last day of the three-day MDG summit.

It's not that UN agencies don't talk about contraception and the draft outcome document, for the summit mentions family planning, sexual and reproductive health several times, including "ensuring that women, men and young people have information about and access to the widest possible range of safe, effective and acceptable methods of family planning." But the wish list is not duplicated on the ground. (My fantasy was to give a "morning-after pill" to the 150 women recently gang-raped in the Congo.)

Child brides

Marriage of child brides, whether forced or by consent, can be a recipe for disaster in bearing healthy children. Says the International Women's Health Coalition, an expert in the field:

Child marriage is the major cause worldwide of pregnancies before age 15. In most of the developing world, 90 percent of girls who give birth before age 18 are married. Young brides typically become sexually active as soon as they are married, sometimes before their first menstruation. Often living in their husband's household and community, they face intense pressures to bear children as soon as possible, with potentially disastrous results. Because their bodies (bone structure, pelvis, reproductive organs) are not yet fully developed, girls ages 14 and younger run a very high risk of complications in pregnancy and childbirth compared with older adolescents.

As many as 50 percent of pregnancies in developing nations are unplanned and 25 percent are unwanted. The unwanted pregnancies are disproportionately among young, unmarried girls who lack access to contraception. In Ethiopia, for example, about one third of all maternal deaths each year could be averted if women had access to reliable family planning methods, UNFPA says.

Mother-in-law decides

Access to birth control is one problem. But even in some nations where the government has reproductive health clinics, the "mother-in-law often makes the decision," Nafis Sadik, the former director of UNFPA, once said.

In Pakistan, for example, a government survey found that 84 percent of the women who want to limit family size do not use modern family planning methods. And among those that do, sterilization is most popular. Illegal abortions are also common with close to a million carried out each year, according to the Population Council of Pakistan.

Patricia Licuanan, a Filipino psychologist and educator, and the current chairman of the Commission on Higher Education, has said that despite the Obama administration's support of reproductive health, "religious fundamentalism is on the upsurge."

She was not wrong about the Philippines, which together with Malawi, last week sponsored a panel of gifted health specialists from around the world, who opposed contraception as well as abortion. Several argued that legal abortions were not necessarily safe and that maternal deaths would not be reduced through contraception, only by proper health care, and that condoms did not necessarily reduce AIDS. (Both the Philippines and Malawi have extraordinarily high rates of maternal mortality.)

There is another side of religious leaders as evidenced by Rev. Debra Haffner who helped organize an open letter among religious leaders on the UN conference, saying in part: "We are called to bear witness to the harsh reality that without comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services, women and girls around the world suffer illness, violence and death."

Clearly contraception is not a panacea for sepsis, severe bleeding, obstructed labor or even the consequences of illegal abortion. Health care in many countries is too tenuous that even sophisticated women worry about surviving a difficult birth. Dr. Asha-Rose Migiro, the UN deputy secretary-general, told a luncheon at the UN Foundation of her fears at the birth of her second child in her native Tanzania where she was a professor and then foreign minister. The doctors, she said, were excellent but the equipment so outmoded "I was afraid for my life" when she needed a cesarean section.

There is no easy answer and nothing works without community involvement, the reduction of extreme poverty, health practitioners at the village level, cell phones for emergencies -- and a proper analysis of available data, much of it sketchy. UNICEF, the UN Children's Fund, found that statistics masked differences within a country between those in relatively prosperous areas and the rural or slum-dwelling poor in developing countries.

And one could add -- in the United States also.

--
Frish 

Here's a notable quote from a Korean business leader...(and demo of bait/switch)

Dr. Il SaKong is Chairman & CEO of the Institute for Global Economics, a private non- profit research institute based in Seoul. "It's like inviting community leaders to our family party. We have to give an impression that Korea is a fundamentally good and solid nation."
...not an impression that we eat your pets.  

(Frish's Bait and Switch:  That was the "icebreaker" (tawdry and rank joke with enough truth*** to be funny to some, and attention getting to most) here comes the message.)

Please note, during the next very few weeks, how much campaign money is spent by various Chambers Of Commerce.

Don't let them buy it, get out and vote, and tell a friend. (Call to action)

Thanks, Frish (MBA Marketing, happy to share some technique!)

Turns out "frishbait" is rather inexpensive and ubiquitous.  (The closer!)

***For those with strong stomachs...

http://www.animalliberationfront.com/Practical/Shop--ToDo/Shopping/DogMeatInLA.htm  

"Four Years. Go" (if we get started NOW, the world's bad trajectories can be changed in 4 years...

http://www.fouryearsgo.org/organizations/browse-organizations/

When first informed of this site, I thought it was "so four years ago" but it turns out that isn't quite the case.

There is an associated blog post that is too true not to share as well...

http://www.evolvingthemovement.org/

From the blog:

"So why isn't the world tackling global warming, sex slavery, economic disenfranchisement, species extinction, terrorism, environmental collapse, financial sustainability, and other critical problems with an all-hands-on-deck approach? "

They definitely ask the right question, I wish them well...

Their pages of allied and worthy organizations is QUITE an interesting list IMHO.

http://www.fouryearsgo.org/organizations/browse-organizatins/

Almost signed VHEMT up as another of the a "sustainable" ally...  But that would be wrong... VHEMT: Not an Organization!

Sex Ratio and Geography, Marriage and Monogamy!

Well, Monogamy?  Just threw that in to obtain interest...but here's an interesting article for those "on the prowl".

Perhaps we ought to think about moving to a gender appropriate city, and contribute to the childlessness of our new partners!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/shortageofsingleladiesdrivesmentocommit;_ylt=AkW9_cHVZ8WdryQhrl.J0aS9IxIF;_ylu=X3oDMTN2Z2k3MjU3BGFzc2V0Ay9zL2xpdmVzY2llbmNlL3Nob3J0YWdlb2ZzaW5nbGVsYWRpZXNkcml2ZXNtZW50b2NvbW1pdARjY29kZQNtb3N0cG9wdWxhcgRjcG9zAzkEcG9zAzkEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yaWVzBHNsawNzaG9ydGFnZW9mc2k-

-- The top five areas where women were scarce, with their gender ratio and median age of marriage for women, were:

Las Vegas: ratio 116, 24.5 years (Median marriage age for women)

San Diego: ratio 115, 25.9 years

Salt Lake City: ratio 113, 23.2 years

Austin, Texas: ratio 112, 26.2 years

Phoenix: ratio 111, 25 years

The top five areas where men were scarce were:

Birmingham, Ala.: ratio 88, 26.7 years (Median marriage age for women)

Memphis, Tenn.: ratio 88, 27.2 years

New Orleans: ratio 89, 27.8 years

Richmond, Va.: ratio 89, 26.3 years

A three-way tie for New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., ratio 92, where median marriage ages were 28.3, 27.9 and 27.8, respectively.

Frish

Damn Fine Commercial, regardless that "Brown" is probably part of the problem!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRAHa_Po0Kg
 

Do we really need to ship things from Bangkok to NYC overnight?  

Whatever.  

It's a great commercial if you haven't seen it on TV yet.

I hit your car with a Frisbee golf Frisbee (A note in prose and haiku)

(Adapted from a true story)

From 5 seconds before I threw it (when I was planning another throw altogether)

to 3 seconds before I threw it (when I noticed your car)

to .5 seconds before it threw it (when I planned on it going down the other side of the street.) 

until .5 seconds after throwing I watched it bear down on your car (and hoped it hit a window)

and then I saw the dent (near the black streak)

 

Forever indelibly impressed upon my conscious and conscience.

 

Tho' I am guilty

have no fig for forgiveness

Or apologies

 

Honorable thing?

No kvetching/obfuscation,

Make dent --------- disappear

 

Women get angry.

That is not something I wish.

Men? Forever - boys...

Eco's question

Eco you wrote:

"This year in several Latinamerican countries we are celebrating our Independence Bicentennial. Happily we remember VIOLENT periods and BATTLES, which casted away oppression and slavery (..well just partially we have become independent, ..., but in fact conditions for slaves or native people, "indios", were worst two hundred years ago).

Of course pacific solutions are always much preferable, but even in India with M. Gandhi, independence took also lots of lives, suffering, TIME and very special people and circumstances, that are not always available."

First, in response to your post, perhaps Martyrs become Heroes depending on who "wins" the war, eh what?  (He who controls Wikipedia controls the future!)

Secondly, and far more importantly, I believe the two paragraphs I resend above capture a terrific thought.

As a species, we seem to be "progressing" to some "higher" moral stand on the way we treat each other.  Stumbling, 3 steps forward, 2 steps back, but we seem to be ruled by laws, that, if enforced, makes life peaceful for many.

I have an Archaeology Degree, I know a little about what we were like coming out of the trees.  

Tool making omnivore soon to have speech and fire.

We fan out, and, through our material culture, we've used that technology to "genetically engineered" ourselves as a specie to EAT EVERYTHING ON THE PLANET.  Our tools make plants/animals into mincemeat.  Literally.  

The question your prose has me pose...

Is our Social Evolution fast enough to save us from our Human Nature (that which we've lived with for .25 to .5 million years or whatever)?

Live Long and Die Off

Frish

--
Frish

Regarding Humans! Rah, Rah, Rah!

Les, thanks for sharing this article.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/sustainable-were-a-lot-smarter-than-that/story-e6frg6zo-1225914025010

I have selected portions of the article to comment upon below (within parenthesis).

Austin Williams loathes the smug "carbonistas", the ecological armageddonists and those who've grown afraid of future growth, indeed of the future, and their burgeoning political influence.
(OKAY, so what?!!)

His case:  we should not be sacrificing humanism at the altar of environmental sustainability.

"There's this tired Malthusian logic that's coming back into the mainstream across the Western world, that humanity is a huge problem for the planet,"

"It's amazing that Malthus was so widely discredited, but now he's back being discussed in such a positive light at all the right dinner parties," Williams says.
(The only thing Malthus got wrong was how human "ingenuity" would stave off the Malthusian die off.  But Williams neglects to consider the consequences of a petroleum based economy, and especially petroleum based agriculture, to allow humans to procreate without restriction.  This has allowed humanity to grow at the expense of the rest of the biosphere, and it is patently unsustainable (think "peak oil" whenever that year already or will occur).)

"We seem to have lost any notion of the future as a positive place to be. We've forgotten that humans are endlessly creative individuals. We instead see ourselves as problems, not solutions, and once that becomes the prevailing view the next logical step is the fewer humans the better."This negative view that we are nothing more than carbon excreters is an attitude I find reprehensible. I see humans as problem solvers, so the more people there are the more problems that will be solved and the better society will be."
(That one was truly funny, I'll admit.)

Urban congestion is something we should embrace, Williams argues, with any adverse issues eminently fixable with the right policy settings and technology.

(oh, really, how about changing Human Behavior along the way too, is that "eminently fixable" as well?)

"we need to reclaim the humanist agenda, which puts people first, and the technological advances will inevitably come."
(So, he is an unabashed speciest, who cares not a whit about the rest of biology, and believes all we need is technology to overcome whatever difficulties face this "Modernity" he seeks."

Those who fret about carbon footprints and have no faith in humans to solve the carbon problem, get short shrift from Williams. He labels them "carbonistas", highlighting the notion that such concern is merely fashionable.

(What faith ought we have in humans and technology that has brought us to the brink already?  Why is "more of the same" an answer to what are clearly problems, made far more problematic since our population and technology are overwhelming natural coping mechanisms?)

"China isn't having these discussions about the nature of cities. Something's happening there at least. Sure, a lot of it isn't pretty . . . but they are resolving the problems as they arise.
(More funny stuff, wonder how China will handle the age creche sex ratio problem that will almost certainly require military means to supply enough women for the Chinese male population?
The reality:  The sex ratio for those aged 0-14 years represents 20.1% of the Chinese population and the ratio of males to females is as follows:
male 142,085,665/female 125,300,391) (2008 est.)

Seems like 17,000,000 men are going to be looking for love in all the wrong places (like Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, North/South Korea or name any other country they care to "visit".'

This Williams character is clearly an anachronistic throwback in his faith in ingenuity and technology and in his disdain for trends and realities of the small planet we call home.)

Frish

This is raw video of a US Coast Guard rescue of a Russian sailor

I would entitle this exercise, "Survivor Coming Up".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzGBMssrS1E

Operator/Narrator is really "in the moment", eh what?  Has a lunar landing quality as well...

The internet is a disturbing thing.

MSEL "*Master Sequence or Scenario of Events List" used to both prompt and track activities during a management plan exercise.

http://dhsmedia.wi.gov/main/Viewer/?peid=b87462ebcd284514a3602b3ccf955a61 for way too much information!

"Science, it's what for dinner." (Hannibal Lecter)

Liver cells created from patients' skin cells (August 28, 2010) -- By creating diseased liver cells from a small sample of human skin, scientists have now shown that stem cells can be used to model a diverse range of inherited disorders. The researchers' findings will hopefully lead to new treatments for those suffering from liver diseases. ... > full story

Had to read the abstract twice, since:

a) Didn't think anyone would want to create a diseased liver cell

b) Didn't know how useful such would be.

--
Frish

Doctors' Religious Faith Influences End Of Life Care - choose your provider well!

Doctors' Religious Faith Influences End Of Life Care  Article Date: 26 Aug 2010 - 10:00 PDT  http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/199110.php

(Frish sez: Y'know, we're all most likely going to end up in the hands of some medical practitioner before we check out.  An Atheist MD is my firm choice, please!)

A new study from the UK suggests that doctors' religious faith strongly influences end of life care, 

with agnostic and atheist doctors nearly twice as willing to take decisions that speed up end of life 

for very sick patients compared to their deeply religious peers.

Dr Clive Seale, a professor in the Centre for Health Sciences at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, wrote about the findings in a paper published online 23 August in the Journal of Medical Ethics.

Data for the study came from a postal survey of UK doctors working in a range of specialisms where end of life decisions are most likely to occur, such as care of the elderly, palliative care, intensive care, certain hospital specialties, and general practice.

The survey asked participants questions about their own faith and religious beliefs, ethnicity, and views on assisted dying and euthanasia. It also asked them a series of questions about the care of their last patient who died (if relevant), including whether they had given them continuous deep sedation until death, and if they had talked to the patient about decisions judged likely to shorten life.

3,733 doctors responded to the survey (42 per cent of the total invited). Of these, 2,933 answered questions on the care of a patient who died.

The results showed that:

• Specialists in care of the elderly were more likely to be Hindu or Muslim.


• In contrast, specialists in palliative care were more likely to be Christian or white and to agree to the question asking them if they were "religious".


• However, overall, white doctors, the largest ethnic group, were the least likely to report having strong religious beliefs.


• Doctors with strong religious beliefs were less likely to discuss treatments judged likely to end life with their patients.


• On the whole, ethnicity was not linked to rates of reporting ethically controversial decisions, but it was linked to support for assisted dying or euthanasia legislation.


• There was a strong link between specialty and reporting decisions that were expected or partly intended to hasten the end of a sick patient's life.


• Hospital specialists were nearly 10 times more likely to report such decisions than palliative care doctors.


• However, doctors who said they were "extremely" or "very" non-religious were nearly twice as likely to report having made these kinds of decisions than peers who described themselves as having religious beliefs, and this was regardless of specialism.


• There were only a few cases of the most religious doctors having made such decisions (ie expected or partly intended to hasten end of life), but those that did were also signficantly less likely to have discussed them with their patients than their less religious peers.


• There was a similar pattern regarding support for assisted dying and euthanasia legislation.


• Palliative care specialists and those with strong religious beliefs were the most strongly opposed to such legislation.


• Asian and white doctors were less opposed than doctors from other ethnic groups.

Seal concluded that there is a need to acknowledge more strongly the links between doctors' religious beliefs and values and the clinical decisions they make.

--
Frish