Choosing the Joy in Life

I found this video on No Impact Man's blog and LOVE it! Such incredible joy that is transmitted by these people. It always brings a smile to my face to watch this!

Is the war on cancer a fraud?

Ted Kennedy's death from brain cancer has reignited the rhetoric surrounding the "War on Cancer" leading the New York Times to claim that 'As Other Death Rates Fall, Cancer's Scarcely Moves'. Only this summer another one of my colleagues was diagnosed with breast cancer and has gone through several weeks of chemotherapy as they try to get the cancer off her chest wall. She is the third woman in my department to have breast cancer. At the last university I was at, two of my colleagues had breast cancer.

I do not believe we are winning the war on cancer.

I think that the Cancer Industry is simply making money off of sick and scared people. I am more and more inclined to believe that our diet and lifestyle here in North America are playing a far greater role in why we get cancer than environmental toxins, etc. Ted Kennedy alone was well known for his weight problem, high blood pressure, etc. He was famous for his New Year's 'diet' where he would try and lose as much weight as possible through liquid fasting. I don't think I ever saw a publicity photo of him looking really healthy. These were all signs that physically he was not well. He could be any number of people that I know (myself included) who do not eat enough fruits and vegetables and whose diet is made up of refined and packaged foods devoid of any really nutritional value.

That said, I have written about Rip Esselstyn's Engine 2 diet and I have urged several of my friends and family to consider the knowledge and advice about cancer, heart disease, and diabetes that doctors like Dean Ornish, John McDougall, Caldwell Esselstyn, Neil Barnard, and of course the wealth of information in The China Study have to offer about the "War on Cancer". This information and these doctors have extensively covered the problems with modern diet and exercise habits and how these contribute to our battle with cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Dr. John McDougall's website has all the information a person could need to learn the types of foods one should eat to reverse these serious health issues and live a vibrant and healthy life. I believe this is the only way to avoid cancer.

Other resources in DVD form include Mike Anderson's Healing Cancer from the Inside Out and Eating. There are many, many people out there today who have defeated cancer without relying on treatments that have been proven statistically ineffective. I always think of Dr. Ruth Heidrich who is alive and thriving 30 years after her breast cancer diagnosis. She studied the statistics and found that chemo and radiation did not prolong the life of breast cancer patients so she had a full mastectomy and began following a lowfat plant-based diet and has lived to tell the tale. Some people might say, "Well ONE survivor is not statistically significant!" and they would be right. But the problem is that there are so few people who are even told that they might have a better chance of surviving cancer without treatment than with it! Even fewer are told that a lowfat plant-based diet could save their lives. It is sad to say that statistics show that chemotherapy and radiation treatments do not cure breast cancer but it is worse, and in my mind criminally negligent, to advise treatment you know won't work and can damage the immune system to the point that the patient dies of the common cold while in treatment. Moreover, given the current American health crisis, I do not understand why billions of dollars are allowed to go into research on drugs that have no proven effectiveness, all the while common-sense advice such as avoiding animal products and exercising each day could save many, many more lives at a fraction of the cost.

But, as I have said before: there's no money in broccoli. :-) And profit is what drives American health care so anything that is already growing in the ground for free (and therefore cannot be patented) is not interesting to the cancer industry. And profit is what has driven our health care in this country and continues to drive desperate and ill patients to willing undergo treatments that don't work while being deprived of accurate information.

For myself, I have been working my way towards a lowfat plant-based diet in order to avoid these diseases. It is not as easy a transition in some ways because of the culture we live in, but after seeing five women I know become bald in one month and still remain sick with cancer years later, I don't want to go through that.

Hilarity ensues......

1. If you have five dollars and Chuck Norris has five dollars, Chuck Norris has more money than you.

2. There is no 'ctrl' button on Chuck Norris's computer. Chuck Norris is always in control.

3. Apple pays Chuck Norris 99 cents every time he listens to a song.

4. Chuck Norris can sneeze with his eyes open.

5. Chuck Norris can eat just one Lay's potato chip.

6. Chuck Norris is suing Myspace for taking the name of what he calls everything around you.

7. Chuck Norris destroyed the periodic table, because he only recognizes the element of surprise.

8. Chuck Norris can kill two stones with one bird.

Dan Price

Now, I don't want to live in a hobbit hole in the ground, but this guy's story is interesting!

A burning desire...

On Sunday it was my turn to work as brewer at church. The Crossing has a really nice Cafe that we use to brew coffee and other espresso drinks each Sunday and during other events. I rode my bike there that morning (saw a beautiful indigo bunting on the MKT!) but everything just felt 'off' that morning. I had problems getting air into my tire and then was late as I took a 'shortcut' that was NO shortcut (huge gnarly hill!) and got there and had to get brewing. I brewed the wrong coffee in one pot but then things calmed down and seemed OK.

Around 10:00 AM I was grinding some beans and realized the grinder had been set and left on the 'espresso' setting rather than 'drip' which makes the grounds too fine for our industrial size brewers. I reset it and about then one of the brewers overflowed and I went over to shut it off. Grounds and coffee had overflowed behind the machine and without thinking--I was worried about the machine getting damaged--I pulled the brew basket out. Hot water and coffee flowed over my right hand and I yelped and dropped the brew basket on the floor.

Two women, who were talking over near the book area, came right over and started to help clean up. This really surprised me because it meant getting down on the floor and cleaning up coffee grounds, etc. I had put my hand under cool running water but I could see the skin shriveling up and that was when I knew something was really wrong. One of the women was a nurse and she came to check me out and told me she thought I had better get to the doctor soon. I told her I was on my bike and could not get to the doctor quickly. She told me she would take me and to make a long story short, she drove me to the ER where she used to work, and then sat with me for 2 hours as I was treated. She made sure I received excellent care and was as kind and patient as they come. She took me out afterwards to get pain meds and food, then dropped me off at home. Two hours later she brought my bicycle to me! I still get teary-eyed thinking about her kindness--and the kindness of God for putting her there.

I have never had a burn this severe. The burn unit removed the damaged skin and put a dressing called DuoDerm on it and a glove (no Michael jackson jokes please!) and I can type slowly. In about two weeks the new skin should have grown back and I can quit wearing this glove. I am thankful though for all the kindness and help I have had. God is good.

Burley Happiness!

I bought a Burley bike trailer on Craigslist this week for $195. These trailers sell from $238-300 new and I would have had to pay shipping or order from my LBS (local bike shop) and the guy I bought it from lived just down the street from me! He bought it brand new from Klunk's a year ago and moved to Miami where his bike was stolen so he did not get to use the trailer. I have wanted one because you can haul stuff a lot easier and it really reduces my need for the car. My friend RJ at PedNet told me about the Burley and came by to give a going over before I bought it. If I ever forget half as much as RJ knows about bikes, I'll be lucky.

Eric Brende in St. Louis

When I was writing my dissertation I did a *lot* of reading on technology and some of the benefits and costs. One book that I found particularly interesting was by a man named Eric Brende who wrote a book, Better Off, which detailed both his current life and his experience living with an Amish community about a decade ago. The book was fascinating but what was more fascinating to me was that he really questioned the reliance on technology that North American culture has been based upon.

Today he runs a rickshaw business in St. Louis and makes handmade soaps. He and his wife homeschool their three children and have what he terms a 'working household'. I am amazed by the fact that he and his wife understand how important it is to actually raise children who work! Fifty years ago just about EVERYONE had a 'working household' and children were producers, not consumers. Below is a video on Eric. I think you might find it interesting.