Alive and (Un)Well In the USA

Posted by Celticcowboy on Thursday 19 April2012
Posted in: health care reform, illness, Stem Cell Therapy, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a Comment

The wars raging on  our own soil are not over. Far from it, enhanced by election year fervor…

http://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/the-war-on-men-7-crazy-pieces-of-parody-legislati

‎”1. WAR ON MEN: Give me a break! Is outlawing masturbation because it is a form of abortion about proving a point or is it the religious right doctrines taken to the extreme. Yes, the Senator said it was to prove a point but legislation is regarded as one of the three main functions of government. Since when is legislation submission for the purposes of proving a point permissible? Here’s my bill….the entire surface of the United States, streets, parks, forests, offices, homes, parking garages, pools, farms, walls, hallways, tissues, counters and couch upholsteries be turned into a large fertilization petri dish so any sperm spilled, even accidentally, immediately begins conception. Please review my extensive and thorough 4 minute argument here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0kJHQpvgB8

My government is not a venue or forum for random Senators to prove points in order to gain the popular attention of their constituents. In other words, I agree with David Scott Smith 100%.

2. WAR ON WOMEN: as I said last week: Women’s rights are getting squeezed and rung out of them like yesterday’s dirty sponge water and while this is a travesty in and of itself I can’t help but believe that this is the beginning of many more injustices and changes which will make our heads spin. is this an effort to establish that: your body is not your own? we no longer have the right to choose what we put in our body (from vaginal probes to GMOs so “My body, Their property” is closer than i care to admit)

ie. if a woman is state or corporate property, then so is her fetal matter so doctors can remove the biological materials and use it with legal backing? OR, if a woman is genetically resistant to a specific disease, maybe they can just claim her child and use it for testing?

3. WAR ON OUR BODIES AS SOMEONE ELSE’S PROPERTY: more and more i see actions performed under the umbrella excuse “the good of the many outweighs the needs of the few” How long before the health of the many is worth the death of the one? or are we already there? this isn’t out of the realm of reality, if you disbelieve, go read Mike Chrichton’s 2006 book NEXT – “…and that the physician’s university had sold the rights in Frank’s cells to BioGen, a biotechnology startup company. As the book opens Frank is suing the university for unauthorized misuse of his cells, but the trial judge rules that the cells were “waste” that the university could dispose of as it wished. Frank’s lawyers advise that, even if he wins an appeal, the university as a tax-funded organization can still claim the rights to the cells under the doctrine of eminent domain.” The pharma company then goes after his kids since the genetic material is the same and if they own the father, the own the son (and the sins of the father shall be visited on the sons…the genetic commercial potential tool) M.C. said about this book: “This novel is fiction, except for the parts that aren’t.”

We’ll see…this goes in the category of “i hope i’m wrong but this twisting in my gut is telling me otherwise”

For an absolutely chilling account of “My Body, Their Property” read these:
http://books.google.com/books?id=3hFLooYJRIcC&printsec=frontcover Page 95 “Patenting lives: life patents, culture and development” Forfeited Consent: body parts in eminent domain

Some more info: http://books.google.com/books?id=ZIaM8LXlGG0C&printsec=frontcover Page 123
“Intellectual property, medicine and health: current debates” Propert and Human Tissue”- David Granovski

David is a fellow blogger whose dedication to adult stem cell awareness in the United States has brought him extensive knowledge about the interdependence of medical and legislative worlds. For more from David Granovski, or to inquire about adult stem cell therapy, see:

http://repairstemcell.wordpress.com/

I’m All Ears…

Posted by Celticcowboy on Saturday 14 April2012
Posted in: art, Daughter, Family, music, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a Comment

A number of years ago, I had my hearing checked. It was a test that was part of a diagnostic process in regard to vertigo, or something very similar to it. The imbalance was terrifying at the time and snowballed into a series of anxiety attacks which only made the problem worse.

The upshot of those tests was that despite being around a lot of high sound pressure level amplified music on stage, in studios, headphones etc., my hearing was intact. Full range of the spectrum with precise stereo imaging. Just a little bit beat down, but within normal wear and tear limits for someone in my age group. I think it is hereditary. One inherited trait that is not medically problematic. I’ll take that… as a gift.

This may be the reason that I don’t actively participate in karaoke, but find the entertainment factor to be in the wildly off-key singing that goes on in these events. Just a personal choice, I suppose. It’s just funny to me.

The other day I was walking down the street in Center City Philly at the ragged end of the rush hour. On the corner where I was waiting for the light to change was a street musician playing an electric-acoustic guitar through a small, battery-powered amplifier. He was quite talented. The richness of the sound echoed through the concrete canyon. Walking away to my destination and at least a block away from the source of the music, an evidently irate motorist laid on the horn of his automobile. The note struck by the horn was in perfect harmony with the music being played on the corner. It was an extraordinary moment in sonic time.

The very next day my daughter sent me a text. She would be in my area and wanted to know if I was up for recording some vocals. Of course I was. When she came over and we got all set up, she was knocking out the parts in short order. That’s the way the girl rolls, usually spot-on right out of the gate. There was one difficult close harmony she was having a bit of trouble hitting on the mark. With each slightly off attempt, I did not need to ask if she wanted to keep the take. We both knew right away whether it would or would not work. Our bond in these matters was continuing to be strengthened. We both noticed that since she came back from her near death experience with bulimia, her vocal control and pitch had improved considerably in the wake of her recovery. And she inherited the gift as well. When it comes to news like that, I’m all ears.

A Heart For The Tin Man

Posted by Celticcowboy on Monday 26 March2012
Posted in: aging, cardiology, health care reform, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , . Leave a Comment

I’ve been reading a lot of “noise” going on across the web following the news of the heart transplant recently received by the former Vice President this weekend. Most of it involves sentiment that speaks to how undeserving he was, and how money, power, and influence can get you anything. Including that of a heart for a heartless man. To go on about the evil this man has bestowed directly and indirectly on the general public would fill a dedicated blog of its own. There is no love lost between myself and this person, however, It made me think of my own situation in a very humble way.

My entry to the ER was at a small neighborhood hospital. With each subsequent test to determine the extent of my heart failure, doctors, residents and interns would speak to me about what they found and what each thought it meant. In base-line terms, they look at an ejection factor (EF) of 35%, with 50% being that of the average person. Mine came in at 15% with the testing that they could do at that facility before shipping me to a university hospital. There was talk that I would be a candidate for transplant at that time, given my age and overall condition. Hearing that, my thoughts were that if there was a heart available, it should be given to a much younger person, that I had already lived a pretty full life. I thought myself undeserving, in a way, to be considered for such a thing, and inquired about what the alternatives would be.

I can’t say that I know what exact factors were at play that brought Mr. Cheney to the top of the list after 20 months on a machine. I’m not the Almighty and would prefer not to judge in these matters, but it is hard not to. The best I can do is question the decision and its process. I guess if I personally had the money, these thoughts would not occur to me.