Re: The Tower of Gobble

October 3, 2000

Amen to all the stuff that you said below, Jim!

)

> If the news is that beef is good for you beacuse..... anything, then it

> was the US beef council that released the news item. If milk is good for

> you, it was the US milk Coop. Etc., etc. These groups have people who

> get paid to promote the idea that their product is necessary &

> desireable.

>

> These people, who rarely understand the issues involved, just promote

> their company line. This is normal, understandable human behavior. And,

> they probably believe in what they are doing. They probably give this

> advice to their own children.

>

> This does not reflect on " nutritional gospel, " and many times is not

> even the product of greed. The one and only true human problem is

> education. Unfortunately, more people than not prefer that someone else

> do the work & explain to them, bottom line, what it all means. Thus the

> power of our modern, immediate, visual media.

>

> The shortest route is not education of the public, but rather to make it

> desireable to the shareholders & corporate managers of Time-Warner,

> which owns or controls 85% of American TV, cable, newspapers, magazines,

> video, radio, popular music distribution, and so on -- to agree with our

> side.

>

> This corporate giant is not just one of the main players, they are the

> player who decides what people will know, and how they will be told.

> Because, if the talking heads of network news aren't upset about

> something, the American people will not object in sufficient numbers to

> accomplish anything.

>

> Actually, the situation is pretty hopeless, from a humane standpoint.

> But, rather than get depressed by this, I incorporate it into my master

> philosophy of life, to wit:

>

> There is no hope for the human condition, because even if we had the

> solution already, you simply cannot get large groups of human beings to

> agree on anything, good, bad or indifferent! So, the only hope of

> mankind is divine intervention!

>

> Although I consider it a minor sin to attempt to define it or limit it

> to my description, I believe some form of Greater entity exists! So, the

> possibility of a positive outcome is definitely a probability in my

> mind.

>

> If I'm wrong, at least I'm happy!

>

> namaste,

>

> jim

>

> Colin Yardley wrote:

> >

> > Don't you just love the way nutritional gospel revises itself with more

twists and turns than a greased weasel in a wind tunnel? Check out the

following url:

> >

> > http://news.excite.ca/news/uw/001002/health-43

> >

> > The finding? Beef is good for you because it contains a fatty acid

called CLA which is good for losing weight and fighting cancer. Remember the

Woody movie where he woke up 200 years in the future and found out

that future science had determined that alfalfa sprouts were a deadly poison

and that smoking was good for you? IMHO, this constant fluctuation around

issues of what's good-bad to eat does not so much reflect an innate

capriciousness in the design of the universe as it does the shortcomings of

a science that insists on reductionism, inevitably confusing the part for

the whole. In this case, the odd claim that beef is good for you because

they found a single compound in it that enhances health. What about the

other 10,000 compounds? What about the intense fear the animal suffered at

slaughter and the effects which that might produce in ingesters who wolf it

down without any gratitude towards the animal for providing them energy?

etc. etc. We've got to get beyond this

> > 'single tree equals forest' myopia.

> >

> > Colin Yardley

> >

October 3, 2000

Colin,

If the news is that beef is good for you beacuse..... anything, then it

was the US beef council that released the news item. If milk is good for

you, it was the US milk Coop. Etc., etc. These groups have people who

get paid to promote the idea that their product is necessary &

desireable.

These people, who rarely understand the issues involved, just promote

their company line. This is normal, understandable human behavior. And,

they probably believe in what they are doing. They probably give this

advice to their own children.

This does not reflect on " nutritional gospel, " and many times is not

even the product of greed. The one and only true human problem is

education. Unfortunately, more people than not prefer that someone else

do the work & explain to them, bottom line, what it all means. Thus the

power of our modern, immediate, visual media.

The shortest route is not education of the public, but rather to make it

desireable to the shareholders & corporate managers of Time-Warner,

which owns or controls 85% of American TV, cable, newspapers, magazines,

video, radio, popular music distribution, and so on -- to agree with our

side.

This corporate giant is not just one of the main players, they are the

player who decides what people will know, and how they will be told.

Because, if the talking heads of network news aren't upset about

something, the American people will not object in sufficient numbers to

accomplish anything.

Actually, the situation is pretty hopeless, from a humane standpoint.

But, rather than get depressed by this, I incorporate it into my master

philosophy of life, to wit:

There is no hope for the human condition, because even if we had the

solution already, you simply cannot get large groups of human beings to

agree on anything, good, bad or indifferent! So, the only hope of

mankind is divine intervention!

Although I consider it a minor sin to attempt to define it or limit it

to my description, I believe some form of Greater entity exists! So, the

possibility of a positive outcome is definitely a probability in my

mind.

If I'm wrong, at least I'm happy!

namaste,

jim

Colin Yardley wrote:

>

> Don't you just love the way nutritional gospel revises itself with more twists

and turns than a greased weasel in a wind tunnel? Check out the following url:

>

> http://news.excite.ca/news/uw/001002/health-43

>

> The finding? Beef is good for you because it contains a fatty acid called CLA

which is good for losing weight and fighting cancer. Remember the Woody

movie where he woke up 200 years in the future and found out that future science

had determined that alfalfa sprouts were a deadly poison and that smoking was

good for you? IMHO, this constant fluctuation around issues of what's good-bad

to eat does not so much reflect an innate capriciousness in the design of the

universe as it does the shortcomings of a science that insists on reductionism,

inevitably confusing the part for the whole. In this case, the odd claim that

beef is good for you because they found a single compound in it that enhances

health. What about the other 10,000 compounds? What about the intense fear the

animal suffered at slaughter and the effects which that might produce in

ingesters who wolf it down without any gratitude towards the animal for

providing them energy? etc. etc. We've got to get beyond this

> 'single tree equals forest' myopia.

>

> Colin Yardley

>

October 3, 2000

Hey,hey,HEY!!!!

By your own hand, you're not supposed to go there!!!!!

Back to the topic though:

>Beef is good for you because it contains a fatty acid called CLA which is good

for losing weight and fighting cancer.

I just ended a CLA supplement trial. It didn't do a thing for me...

Hmmm...perhaps if I took it while I was on the Swingmaster....

Nahhhh.

Chuck

If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, you may have an

exciting future as a guillotine operator.

On Tue, 03 Oct 2000 14:02:36 -0400, Jim Lambert <jlambert@...> wrote:

>There is no hope for the human condition, because even if we had the

>solution already, you simply cannot get large groups of human beings to

>agree on anything, good, bad or indifferent! So, the only hope of

>mankind is divine intervention!

>

>Although I consider it a minor sin to attempt to define it or limit it

>to my description, I believe some form of Greater entity exists! So, the

>possibility of a positive outcome is definitely a probability in my

>mind.

October 4, 2000

Dear Colin,

Seems to me I remember Clive Backster finding that plants shrieked in fear

when he harvested them from the ground, back in 1972.

All is living, all is interconnected.

Best of Health!

Dr. Saul Pressman, DCh

URL: http://www.plasmafire.com

email: saul@...

" The problems of today cannot be solved using the same thinking that created

them " . - Einstein

The Tower of Gobble

> Don't you just love the way nutritional gospel revises itself with more

twists and turns than a greased weasel in a wind tunnel? Check out the

following url:

>

> http://news.excite.ca/news/uw/001002/health-43

>

> The finding? Beef is good for you because it contains a fatty acid called

CLA which is good for losing weight and fighting cancer. Remember the Woody

movie where he woke up 200 years in the future and found out that

future science had determined that alfalfa sprouts were a deadly poison and

that smoking was good for you? IMHO, this constant fluctuation around issues

of what's good-bad to eat does not so much reflect an innate capriciousness

in the design of the universe as it does the shortcomings of a science that

insists on reductionism, inevitably confusing the part for the whole. In

this case, the odd claim that beef is good for you because they found a

single compound in it that enhances health. What about the other 10,000

compounds? What about the intense fear the animal suffered at slaughter and

the effects which that might produce in ingesters who wolf it down without

any gratitude towards the animal for providing them energy? etc. etc. We've

got to get beyond this 'sing

>

> Colin Yardley

>

October 4, 2000

Saul,

I was living in a commune in New York when that info was published. Some

commune members were so fascinated they made an appointment and went to

talk to him. His discoveries came about because he had a rubber plant in

his office that wasn't doing well. He wondered if the plant was

transpiring water properly, or well. Being a lie-detector examiner, he

connected the galvanometer of one of his machines to a leaf of the

plant, thinking he might learn something useful. Eventually, having

discovered nothing, he idly wondered if putting a burning match under a

leaf would affect anything and the galvanometer jumped. But, that was

only the beginning.

He left his plant hooked up permanently. Once he got to making tests he

wondered why he would randomly get a response when nothing was seemingly

happening. He eventually traced the random responses to the men's room

urinal on the floor below his office. When the bactericide was flushed,

his plant would react to the bacteria in the water dying. (urine is

sterile)

His plant would also react to any stranger who entered the office. But,

it would react less so the next time that person visited & even less the

third time. It wouldn't react after that, apparently deciding this

person wasn't a threat. Once, when he was on vacation 800 miles away he

was in a bad car wreck. His plant back in the office reacted at that

precise moment. All this was before he did the double-blind, crossover,

computer randomized studies that found plants will react to the death of

any living thing.

There is more I remember, but at the time I was a vegetarian, and the

news put me off my feed! I mean, if you can't even eat lettuce without

" killing " it?? Then, a wise friend told me, " Some must die so that

others may live. It is the way of the Universe. " Not long after that I

started eating meat again. Where does one draw the line?

Eventually, I realized we should draw the line at what is healthy for

our body, and not discuss politics at the dinner table! ;-)

jim

Saul Pressman wrote:

>

> Dear Colin,

>

> Seems to me I remember Clive Backster finding that plants shrieked in fear

> when he harvested them from the ground, back in 1972.

>

> All is living, all is interconnected.

>

> Best of Health!

> Dr. Saul Pressman, DCh

>

> URL: http://www.plasmafire.com

> email: saul@...

>

> " The problems of today cannot be solved using the same thinking that created

> them " . - Einstein

>

-----

For every human problem, there is a neat, simple solution; and it is

always wrong -- H.L. Mencken

jlambert@... http://www.entrance.to/madscience

http://www.entrance.to/poetry

October 4, 2000

Dear Saul and Jim:

Am reminded of an interesting observation by a stand-up comic:

" I have these vegetarian friends who tell me I shouldn't eat meat. They also

tell me I should talk to my plants. "

Sure, as ph pointed out, all is connected, life feeds on life,

that's the bittersweet circumstance of this paradoxical dualistic realm of

apparent opposites in which we apparently arise. I once asked a Tibetan

Rinpoche, " If limitation is suffering, is it not cruel of the Absolute to

keep the relative world going? "

He replied, " Yes, you're right and it does no good whatsoever to pursue the

question at the intellectual level at which you pose it. Practice, meditate,

increase your merit and you will come to see that the extraordinary thing

about the universe is that there is a good that transcends the duality of

good and evil. Evil does not transcend that duality. "

Something like that.

Cheers,

Colin

> Saul,

>

> I was living in a commune in New York when that info was published. Some

> commune members were so fascinated they made an appointment and went to

> talk to him. His discoveries came about because he had a rubber plant in

> his office that wasn't doing well. He wondered if the plant was

> transpiring water properly, or well. Being a lie-detector examiner, he

> connected the galvanometer of one of his machines to a leaf of the

> plant, thinking he might learn something useful. Eventually, having

> discovered nothing, he idly wondered if putting a burning match under a

> leaf would affect anything and the galvanometer jumped. But, that was

> only the beginning.

(rest snipped)

October 5, 2000

Dear Jim,

Thanks very much for that insight.

And thanks for your willingness to share

your personal history with the millions.