| Saturday, March 22, 2003 |  |
| National Debt Clock | 2 comments |
 22 Mar 2003 @ 18:15This is an intriguing resource that tracks the public and national debt per day. National Debt Clock The National Debt has continued to increase an average of $1.42 billion per day since September 30, 2002! The estimated population of the United States is 290,743,300 so each citizen's share of this debt is $22,259.87. More > |
| Great Example: Think Globally, Act Locally | 0 comments |
 22 Mar 2003 @ 18:05I was thrilled to see our small town (about 8000 people) of Ojai addressing some difficult issues on how the international policies affect us here in our own community. Ojai City Council Meeting March 25 7:30 pm Arrive Early 401 S. Ventura Ave. Across from Police Dept. The Anti-War Resolution we first presented to the Ojai City Council last November will be on the agenda at the Council's next meeting, this coming Tuesday, March 25. The article that appeared on the front page of the OVN last Friday was misleading. It made it appear that the resolution had been rejected. Joe DeVito was against putting it on the agenda but two other council members wanted it on and another wanted more information so it was decided to place it on the agenda. We need Ojai Valley residents to speak to this issue that night and many others to attend. Please respond to this e-mail if you can speak. There's a 3 minute time limit. We hope to coordinate topics so there isn't a lot overlapping. Some suggestions for speaking: Stay focussed and on point. Be passionate, but don't be confrontational. Don't treat the City Council members as enemies. They are neighbors and friends. Don't make speeches to educate people about foreign policy, the history of imperialism or the lack of character of President Bush. These topics are worthy of attention, but off task for what we intend to achieve. Don't address any extraneous issues. This is about sending a message from our town to Washington to stop the war and the economic sanctions against Iraq. Some suggested topics: The economic impact of war expenditures on community funding. Hazards to our troops and all others in areas of use of depleted uranium ammunition. (Cancer, radiation injuries, birth defects - even in offspring of exposed vets.) The importance of acting in accordance with the majority of the United Nations. Ojai Citizens for Peaceful Resolutions More > |
| Halliburton Makes a Killing on Iraq War | 1 comment |
 22 Mar 2003 @ 17:44This comes from the CorpWatch website. I feel it's vital that all of us understand the symbiotic relationships in the military corporate complex. In this way we can make more educated choices, to not only whom we elect, but also how we spend our consumer dollars and what those dollars are funding. Halliburton Makes a Killing on Iraq War Cheney's Former Company Profits from Supporting Troops Special Series By Pratap Chatterjee Special to CorpWatch March 20, 2003 As the first bombs rain down on Baghdad, CorpWatch has learned that thousands of employees of Halliburton, Vice President Dick Cheney's former company, are working alongside US troops in Kuwait and Turkey under a package deal worth close to a billion dollars. According to US Army sources, they are building tent cities and providing logistical support for the war in Iraq in addition to other hot spots in the "war on terrorism." While recent news coverage has speculated on the post-war reconstruction gravy train that corporations like Halliburton stand to gain from, this latest information indicates that Halliburton is already profiting from war time contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Cheney served as chief executive of Halliburton until he stepped down to become George W. Bush's running mate in the 2000 presidential race. Today he still draws compensation of up to a million dollars a year from the company, although his spokesperson denies that the White House helped the company win the contract. Read On... More > |
| Back Pain Linked To Brain Shrinkage | 1 comment |
 22 Mar 2003 @ 17:28Back Pain Linked To Brain Shrinkage - Study By Merritt McKinney 3-22-3 NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with chronic back pain may experience shrinkage in the 'thinking' part of the brain, according to preliminary results of a small study presented this week at a meeting of the American Pain Society in Chicago. The decrease in brain tissue remains a chicken-or-the-egg question for researchers, since they do not know which comes first -- the back pain or the shrinkage. But if chronic pain turns out to cause parts of the brain to shrink, "the urgency to cure chronic pain becomes more important," according to Dr. A. Vania Apkarian at Northwestern University in Chicago, who heads the ongoing study. In previous research, Apkarian and his colleagues uncovered evidence that people with chronic pain may experience changes in brain tissue called gray matter. Unlike white matter, which mainly holds the brain together, gray matter contains active "thinking cells" that are involved in processing information and memory. It makes up the largest proportion of the brain. In the new study, Apkarian's team continued to study the brains of people with chronic pain, in this case 10 people with chronic back pain. The researchers measured gray matter in the brains of people with chronic back pain and compared them to a group of 20 people who did not have chronic pain. The measurements revealed that people with chronic pain had less gray matter -- overall and in a part of the brain called the thalamus. Not only was there less gray matter in terms of volume in pain sufferers, but the tissue was also less dense, Apkarian said. The changes in people with chronic pain, Apkarian told Reuters Health in an interview, were particularly noticeable in parts of the gray matter that are known to be important in making "emotional assessments," including decision making and control of everyday social behavior. "We have shown that brain chemistry is abnormal in chronic back pain patients," Apkarian said. He cautioned however, that "we have no idea" whether the shrinkage causes the back pain or vice-versa. The two phenomena could also be unrelated, he said. The research raises "a whole new set of questions" about chronic pain, Apkarian said. "This is just the beginning at looking into the brain at what chronic pain really is." Right now, Apkarian and his colleagues are still recruiting people with chronic back pain, as they would eventually like to measure gray matter in 20 people with pain, he said. The Chicago researcher said that he would like to follow a group of people with chronic pain to see whether the changes in gray matter progress. If gray matter continued to shrink as the pain continued, it would support the idea that the shrinkage is caused by chronic pain, he said. One question Apkarian would like to see answered is whether treating the pain can reverse the damage to the brain's gray matter, although he said such a reversal is unlikely. Apkarian noted that even though "a lot of work" needs to be done in studying the relationship between gray matter changes and chronic pain, the possibility that pain can cause parts of the brain to shrink highlights the importance of treating chronic pain. Apkarian noted that in another study that has yet to be published, he and his colleagues found that people with chronic pain have "a very specific" type of decline in the ability to make emotional decisions. More > |
| Some Timely Lyrics | 0 comments |
 22 Mar 2003 @ 10:50These are a couple of lyrics that I wrote for my album Archer and the Muse. You can hear the songs on my mp3.com website Also, there are more lyrics Here. Mr. G Skies turning foreign, A breath that is foreign to breathe. Pushing me closer, The soil I smell as my grave. There's much to recover , A game where we can't drop the ball. We kick, push, and shove her , The scoreboard is telling it all. Stand down your mission, To cut down the trees, Mr. G, G, G, Stand down your mission, Forever for me, Mr. G, G, G. Nickel and diming, And smiles might win their campaign. I watch television, Which side do I choose to believe? I reach out my hands to pray, I listen for what you might say, I'm not so sure that I will ever learn. Everyone's spilling their seed, I'll trade you my greed for some peace, Plant a tree the children want to breathe, Plant a tree the children want to breathe. Stand down your mission, To cut down the trees, Mr. G, G, G, Stand down your mission, Forever for me, Mr. G, G, G. ------------------------------------------------ Secret of Service I say that the world's just a run around, And we're chasing our tails in the dark, We send ships to the stars, While we cover with tar to build parking lots. Be it gardener, or banker, or diplomat, I question the fruits of our plan, We send men to the moon, Yet we don't provide food for the starving man. It's not always easy to trust your feelings, To do what's right. The secret of service has not been told, Handing out trips or a crime, Broadcasting fables, The young and the able don't buy the lines. Patiently waiting for someone to tell, How they finally discovered the way out of Hell, Is it true. If so can our earthly desires improve, Roll your eyes, For the cynic we've run out of room. I say that the world's just a runaround, Yet our spirit is reaching new heights, "Calling All Angels", a friend on the radio cries. "Calling All Angels", a friend on the radio cries. It's not always easy to trust your feelings, To do what's right. More > |