Saturday, February 15, 2014

why it's really, REALLY stupid to offend a blogger....

Dion Fortune wrote in her book "The Sea Priestess" that "people who value public opinion are at a very great disadvantage in dealing with people who don't."  When i first read that, it struck such a chord with me, i found it worth remembering....

I don't know if "Bill" (obviously not OUR Bill L.) cares about his reputation or not -- except that he's carefully cultivating public opinion that he IS an asshole -- but i'll do what i can in my small way to make sure the world hears what a low reputation he OUGHT to have.  THAT is why being rude to people on the 'net because they can't slap you across the face for real ... is still a bad idea.

I don't have Andreas Eenfeldt's blog DietDoctor.com on my list because his message tends to be rather elementary.  When i sometimes read his latest title on other people's blog lists, though, i occasionally pop into his (and others') out of curiosity, just to see if there's any usable info.  "Is There a Safe Amount of Sugar" turned out to be as empty as usual, but i read the comments anyway.  Mistake!  The poor doctor's audience is well fitted to his message.

Do you remember in old Loony Toons episodes where Daffy Duck lisps past a major head-injury "THIS MEANS WAR"?  Yeah.  And i don't play Ms. Niceguy any more -- it doesn't pay.  So here on my own turf, i'll ADVERTISE what a brainless GIT he is.  Playing with hyperbole and projection techniques just like the worst trolls are wont to do.

It's SUCH a pity that paid-for blog sites like DietDoctor don't make people identify themselves better, or i'd let it be known what Bill's real name and contact info are.  So that anyone googling his name will be immediately informed what a stupid shit he is, how meaningless and worthless his comments, and how TINY HIS DICK.  How not one word if valid information is likely EVER to pass his lips, though i'm willing to bet he's a big proponent of resistant starch and Nikolean "philosophy."  There's no doubt of his nationality, though -- he's obviously a proud patriot of Fuctardia.

;-)  Now, THAT was fun.  Eddie, may i nominate Bill for one of those gold-plated trophies over at the Low Carb Diabetic?

Friday, February 14, 2014

a little universal LOVE, this valentine's day

I'll do my best to avoid all ranting behavior today.  ;-)  Reason one, my husband is a good guy and deserves a good mood from me, this of all days.  Reason two, although ranting gives me a sense of satisfaction, it doesn't contribute to actual HAPPINESS.  To help maintain cheerfulness, I think i'll be staying away from facebook, particularly.

The things that piss me off, on that site, are distinctly "lack of love" stories.  The Kansas legislature passing a bill which legalizes anti-gay discrimination.  Another city which requires special licensing before it's legal to feed the poor.  One place in Florida where the homeless are being jailed because they're keeping warm in public with BLANKETS -- the nerve of them!

A lot of these hateful jerks call themselves Christians.  They're not.  And the Christ knows it.

Frankly, I don't know what's the matter with them.  This has gone far BEYOND "oh, they're frightened because their world is changing."  This isn't fear, it's a sense of license that they can be as nasty as they have wanted to be all along, but have been inhibited by public opinion -- you know, that "political correctness" which teabaggers have turned into a dirty word, just like "liberalism."  To be liberal ONLY means allowing others freedom (look it up) -- it isn't by definition the foolish excessive "left-ness" that most people use it for. 

"Political correctness" was a way to try to get impolite people to behave politely.  It, too, got out of hand in some circles ... but that doesn't mean the concept wasn't sound in its beginnings.  It just meant that you don't call your buddies "retarded" because people who overhear you, who might be "developmentally challenged" or have loved ones in that predicament, feel bad.  THAT'S WHAT PROPER MANNERS DO -- make people comfortable.  Being considerate -- that's proper manners.  Applying the Golden Rule.  Not being rude and hurtful, just because one has a mean and nasty nature -- society is built on certain basic civilities, but some people aren't taught them so if they aren't naturally sensitive, they don't know -- and it isn't REASONABLE to blame people for what they've never learned.  Ergo, societal rules saying what you should NOT do, as a very minimum -- political correctness.

Despite the theoretical desirability to live in small tribes as hunter-gatherers, the world has moved on and it's just not possible unless you're rich enough to buy your own island.  If we HAVE to live in a "society" we HAVE to behave in a social fashion.  This requires civility.  It requires a certain generosity of spirit, because when we look around us these days, we see what happens when that goes out the window. 

The breathtaking hatefulness of an abnormally large segment of society these days is going to catalyze catastrophe.  It amazes me that they think they can get away with it and rise above the mess that is fermenting.  I do my best to pity rather than despise them, as is my instinct....

On the other hand, I see the discussions of really wonderful people on certain websites, that assure me that the WHOLE world hasn't got their priorities thoroughly bassackward.  I treasure the ones I read of and communicate with every day.

May ALL the world get a glimpse of what love OUGHT to look like, today -- and every day.  May people of goodwill be rewarded for the service they do the world.  May the misled and deficient see the light before it's too late.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

news flash to the "good doctor"

My blogosphere friends surely know who i'm referring to, though i haven't read him in over two years, and only referred to him recently because of one of Fred T's recent posts.  Hell, even Wooo hasn't thought it worthwhile to blog about his BS in a long time!  :-)

Looking through someone else's blog list just now, though, i saw his latest title "how to eat less" or some such thing.

LATE-BREAKING NEWS!!!  I DON'T WANT TO EAT LESS!

Eating less is bad for me!  Eating less gives me hypothyroid symptoms!  Eating less makes me cold, and feel like shit!

To those who want to eat less -- haven't you tried that before?  How well did it work; was it sustainable?  Are you deluded enough to think that calorie restriction makes you immortal, or do you get a feeling of nobility from suffering, like a medieval religious fanatic?

Eat a very-low-carb diet and you WILL eat less, but you'll also feel less hungry.  After you conquer those potato- and rice-cravings (ie, become fat/ketone-adapted), you will also crave ALL glucose-raising carbs less.  Dump sugar, wheat, and industrial seed-oils, and the temptation to snack generally drops like a rock.  Fill up on lamb chops and your favorite vegetable, and be amazed at how long it is before you're hungry again.

On VLC i find myself looking at my daily calories and wondering what i might have in the kitchen that could tempt me to get my intake UP to where it needs to be to lose weight more efficiently!

I actually was hungry this morning!  It's rare that i have any appetite before noon, but i celebrated with a big plate of bacon and eggs today, and enjoyed that ghrelin rush while breakfast was cooking.  Of course, i wasn't interest in lunch though, more's the pity....

And that guy wants me to eat LESS?  How can someone be an obesity specialist and not realize that lowering intake tends to cause lowered metabolism as well?  Pathological neurobiology, too?  The ONLY piece of work by Ancel Keys that wasn't a pile of horseshit -- the starvation experiment -- showed what happened to healthy young men when they were eating the kind of things "the good doctor" wants YOU to eat ... oh, and they were "moving more" too!  If insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, what does that make HIM?








long winter making my eyes tired!

^^^  attempt at humor -- don't take it seriously.

It remains cold and snowy here in St. Louis!  I like cold and snow, but we're not getting the breaks we usually do.  The midwest can usually count on a significant "January thaw;"  it just isn't happening that way, this year.  And although one CAN take walks when there's ice and snow on the pavement, i don't get the same kind of effect -- one doesn't stride the same way, and one keeps some muscles tensed to avoid slipping and tripping ... and different shoes DON'T help significantly.

I've been doing what i usually do when there's a good reason to stay inside (which applies to heatwaves, too):  i cook and do housework, i run the errands i must, i work on any special project we might have on hand, i interact with my husband and dog, and i read.  In this extended cold season, i've read a LOT.

The last two days i read the entire archive of one blogger with whom i almost entirely agree, despite the fact that he's "normal" -- he realizes people are different and doesn't paint with too broad a brush. Harris, like Sisson, seems to understand that ideal starch intake will vary with carb tolerance and activity level.  It looks like his diet was similar to mine, until he started doing a lot of physical work.  He even expressed his doubts of the universal wholesomeness of low-carb vegetables which jibes with my experience.  Too bad he stopped blogging, but maybe said all he really had to express....

Wooo's last few posts combined with what i read certainly confirmed my philosophy:  food, for normal people, is fuel;  food, for people with significant physical limitations, is fuel AND MEDICINE.  The dual role cannot be allowed to go unappreciated!

Normal people can take in any reasonable mixture of foods (even a little of the "neolithic agents of disease"), make energy out of it, extract the necessary minerals, amino acids and fats, convert provitamins to their active counterparts, store what's left over from required processes, and retrieve as needed.

People with genetic predilections toward ABnormal processes, or who have been infected, injured, or otherwise damaged so that their bodies do NOT perform as described above, don't have the luxury of eating like a traditional Swiss or Kitavan.  We have to tweeze out every little detail of our bodies' misperformance we can identify, and consciously counteract and work around the limitation.  We can't eat without taking into account what we REQUIRE for health, but can't convert, manufacture, or absorb.

To use me as the poster child of FFFery, i can't rely on my digestive system to pull out the iron i need to keep my thyroid function adequate, despite the generous quantities which i'm THEORETICALLY getting from my diet.  I make every effort to eat red meat at least every other day, and i breakfast on eggs any time i breakfast at all.  If i don't use an iron supplement every other day, i start losing hair generously.  Back when my husband was working out of town i had plenty of time to experiment, and it became blatant -- stop supplementing, lose hair; start supplementing, hairbrush and bathtub much less "cluttered."  Over and over -- lather rinse repeat.  A certain "mineral zealot" who comments on a number of blogs warned me how DAAAAANGEROUS iron is ... but you can't GENERALIZE in the world of foodasmedicine!  My digestive system just doesn't tease out the iron in my food....  Incidentally, i alternate copper supplements with the iron, except on the days i eat liver or oysters, because i DO seem to get the benefit of my minerals from those sources -- don't ask me why!

One of the major improvements in energy i observed came when i began supplementing REAL vitamin A.  To this day, it INFURIATES me when i read about this or that vegetable contributing A to the diet -- i don't always manage to restrain myself from cyber-screaming YOU CAN'T GET VITAMIN A FROM ANY VEGETABLE SOURCE!!!  NO vegetable has vitamin A, and almost half of the women in a British study CLEARLY could not convert carotenes adequately.  Yet the lies are reproduced over and over and over again.  Sadly, the lies are repeated by people with very good intentions, too.

"Normal" people do fine, and "abnormal" people are accused of lying on their food logs....

Until people in the medical industry start listening to and believing their patients AS THE DEFAULT, patients who are willing to do what it takes to get better have only one choice -- SELF-EDUCATION.  The system does everything it can to discourage this, and to protect its monopoly.  Thank god there are HEALERS out there who are willing to share the intellectual wealth!  I don't care if they DO sell books or supplements on the side, the fact that they pour streams of free, useful, empowering information into the world from their websites is the intellectual generosity that deserves our gratitude and admiration!

What works for people who are similar to us MAY NOT work for us, but what clearly does NOT work for the majority of people hasn't got a snowball's chance of being effective.  Professionals who have seen thousands of people, and who have benefitted a large number of them, are a damn good reference.  People who may have a bit of a swelled head....  People who may want to make some extra money (who doesn't?), but who are pleased when their knowledge helps someone....  People who get irritable when arguing with the stubbornly ignorant....

[...back to my reading.  great thing about the internet, you can magnify the pages....]

Sunday, February 9, 2014

the luxury of having nothing to lose

I thoroughly respect and understand Wooo's attempts to conceal her identity.  There are a lot of jerks who would LOVE to make her life difficult.  Sidereal too -- her professional future could be made a no-go before it has a chance to really start -- she hasn't minced words when it comes to the malfeasance of her field!  I still hope that "outing" Lifextension isn't going to be a problem for her!

Me -- I LOVE being in the position I am!  I can say what I think about assholes and their professional associations in any field I want!  What can anybody do?  I don't depend on any business or organization for my livelihood or any benefits.  Damaged reputation?  BULLSHIT.  :-D

I just read the short AND the long versions of the report by the Dieticians for Professional Integrity about the annual RDs' conference.  Seems like there's a ban on photography on the "floor" where all the sponsors display!  Wonder why that could be -- you think they may not be proud of the propaganda they're spreading?  Maybe they think it looks bad that Coca Cola and Frito-Lay are providing informational materials to dieticians and YOUR CHILD'S SCHOOL PRINCIPAL on what a healthy diet is?

Do you suppose there MIGHT be some bribery and malfeasance at play, when the AUTHORITIES tell you that it's fine to eat all the starch you want, so long as you take the stairs instead of the elevator at the mall?  Perhaps the cheap, synthetic vitamins added to the sugar-based cereals and pastries aren't REALLY part of a NUTRITIOUS breakfast???

We can't allow these doubts!!!  It's better if Mom doesn't know that her guidance about what she should feed her kids, so that they can grow up healthy and be "the best they can be", comes straight out of the advertising department of Monsanto....

I left what I consider a scathing comment, naming a name which the (short) web article was too cautious to add.  It will be interesting to see if it passes the moderator.

There's dirty work at the crossroads, babies!  I consider it my duty and privilege to pour contempt and scorn for the duplicitous and absolutely CRIMINAL companies, associations, and -- yes -- INDIVIDUALS who are making big money by fucking you over.  Being old and retired is a goddam LUXURY. 

Feel free to vent here!  :-D  I LOVE it!

Monday, February 3, 2014

more music

Well, since my musical tastes range from folk to swing to rock to classical, I have quite a stable of favorites to share ... but I try to restrain myself.  There's a certain blogger I rarely read anymore, who loves to share HER favorites, and they tend to put me to sleep -- so I just don't want to go there.

But here's an artist whom not many people find familiar.  We discovered Jimmie Spheeris back in the early '70s.  He was run over and killed by a drunk driver in the '80s before he became very famous, but his few records are still favorites of mine.

Fortunately, youtube has quite a collection of his stuff.  I hope Graham enjoys this more than the classic/folk I posted yesterday.  :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmNPnC6GgCA

Sunday, February 2, 2014

drinking water KILLS ;-)

...Which is roughly translated from the old Auvergne song, "L'Aio de Rotso."

I first heard this in Kiri Te Kanawa's delightful album "Chants d'Auvergne."  The CD conveniently comes with not only the lyrics, but an English translation of them.  These old pastoral-society folksongs just show how universal ideas can be!

I didn't find a video of HER singing the song -- second-best is the best I can share with you.  Inspired by the lowcarbdiabetic team and their "Saturday music night" I offer you:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz8f8NpHPvY