My monthly blog started out as "Letter
from Serendipity" (why was it called this).
The masthead was always
"Love, Health and Riches", so once I left Sri Lanka, I
adopted this latter title. I've selected the non-topical items from
past issues and collected them here, as archives. There is lots of
interesting stuff - I hope you find it informative.
FULL INDEX COMING SOON!
Meanwhile, view recent:
25. Feb 2007
26. March 2007
27. April 2007
28. May 2007
29. June 2007
30. July 2007
31. Aug 2007
32. Sept 2007
Here's the start of the compilation:
Past Blogs 1
Past Blogs 2
Past Blogs 3
Past Bogs 4
Past Blogs 5
I also started compiling the "Guess Who?" quotes. See more
What's this?
Members of Mothers Against Genetic Engineering in Food and the Environment,
also known as MAdGE, oppose releasing genetically modified organisms
into the environment. They want the New Zealand government to reverse
its decision to lift a ban on genetic engineering, a change that
goes into effect on Oct. 29 2003.
The group's members say such projects, such as a plan for generating
genetically engineered cow milk, will lead to a world in which genetic
engineering has gone wild, perhaps not as wild as women with four
breasts hooked up to milking machines, but at least as disturbing.
It's pretty clear the ladies feel strongly about this issue. I'm
with the ladies, of course, but my main Blog is that if men produced
a poster like this, it would raise a furore - KSM
Depressed? Lost? Feel inadequate? Lonely?
A sensational new drug will help you!
click here to learn more (MP3 recording)
(click anyway, it's a joke!)
Can we trust the scientists?
The word SCIENCE or "scientific" is accepted
as the watchword for purity and truth. If it was published in a scientific
or medical journal, it must be "true" is the widely held
belief. But what if the scientists are lying, faking or stealing
their data and trying to cover up their own crimes and those of other
people? I'm not talking about mistakes or even false doctrine. I'm
talking about cynically manipulating figures, or making them up;
lying and cheating in a very serious domain that leads mankind down
dangerous paths. Falsified medical data could (and does) cost lives.
What happens to researchers who get caught lying? They get hired
by drug companies, of course!
I'm sure this shocking report is only the tip of the iceberg. The
investigators can't even keep pace with the number of complaints
received. Fraud is endemic within the medical academic fraternity.
How dare they criticize others for not being scientific when they
can't even keep their own house in order?
Read a shocking exposé recently published by ASSOCIATED PRESS
Depressed Man Diagnosed as
'Scottish' (no cure!)
A 'true' story from a US newspaper...
Alistair McGregor, an expatriate Scottish man living in America,
was recently diagnosed as clinically depressed, tanked up on anti-depressants
and scheduled for controversial Shock Therapy when doctors realized
he wasn't depressed at all... only Scottish.
Mr. McGregor, a Scottish man whose characteristic pessimism and
gloomy perspective were interpreted as serious clinical depression,
was led on a nightmare journey through the American psychiatric system.
Doctors described McGregor as suffering from Pervasive Negative
Anticipation - a belief that everything will turn out for the worst,
whether it's trains arriving late, Scotland's chances at winning
any international sports event or even his own prospects to get ahead
in life and achieve his dreams.
"The satisfaction Mr. McGregor seemed to get from his pessimism
seemed particularly pathological," reported the doctors.
"They put me on everything - Lithium, Prozac, St John's Wort,
Ginseng", said Mr. McGregor. "They even told me to sit
in front of a big light for an hour a day or I'd become suicidal.
I kept telling them this was all pointless and they said it was exactly
that sort of attitude which got me here in the first place."
Running out of ideas, his doctors finally resorted to a course of "weapons
grade MDMA", the only noticeable effect of which was six hours
of speedy repetitions of the phrases "mustn't grumble" and "not
too bad, really."
Mr. McGregor had six months of therapy but seemed to mainly want
to talk about the weather - how miserable and cold it was in winter
and later how difficult and wet it was in summer. The doctors felt
he wasn't responding to therapy at all and so recommended drastic
action - namely ECT or shock treatment.
"I was all strapped down on the table and they were about to
put the rubber bit in my mouth when the psychiatric nurse picked
up on my accent," said Mr. McGregor. "I remember her saying
'Oh my God, I think we're making a terrible mistake'." Nurse
Alice Sheen was a big fan of Scottish comedy giving her an understanding
of the Scottish psyche. "Classic comedy characters like Chick
Murray, Will Fife and The Crankies, all hopeless cases with no chance
of ever doing well or escaping their circumstances," she explained
to the baffled US medics. "In Scotland, being depressed to the
point of suicidal is considered the norm and is not seen as pathological
at all."
Identifying Mr. McGregor as Scottish changed his diagnosis
from 'clinical depression' to 'rather quaint and charming' and he
was immediately discharged from hospital, with a selection of brightly
colored leaflets and an "I love New York" T-shirt as a
gift.
[Thanks to Alec MacRae]
This reminds me of working days in Glasgow and Dublin back in
the 1980s. If you asked an Irish patient how he was getting on
with the treatment, the reply was "Wonderful, Doctor, 'tis
a miracle, a true miracle, so it is!!" If you asked a Scottish
patient the same question, he or she would probably reply "Well,
I'm no worse..." KS-M
Optical illusion
If you stare at this image for long enough, you'll
see a giraffe
Couldn't resist! Sorry!
The mental health hotline
click here to listen
to a recorded message...
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