Thought for the Day - Jan 25

Subject: Thought for the Day - Jan 25
From: Peter T.
Date: 25 Jan 00 - 09:14 AM

Having been sick with the flu for a month now, I have been somewhat obsessed with the question of identity. If a person is known by their enemies, then the fact that my body is an immune system battlefield that is struggling to develop antibodies against a mutating replicant virus reminds me on a moment-by-moment basis that my body depends for its integrity on its ability to recognise what is not part of my physical identity, and repel attackers. Viruses are cunning little bastards, coming in and taking over my DNA replication mechanism, and using the photocopier all night. My flu is the result of the ensuing fight for me. The boundary between what is me, and what is not me, is currently contested terrain: this will last until I die, at which point the argument moves onto different terrain. (Attchooooooo!!!)

yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - Jan 25
From: Amos
Date: 25 Jan 00 - 09:34 AM

The ancient Gita (maybe it was the Bahgavad Gita, not sure) says this about the quest for identity:

He who believes in the difference between within and without

Is destined to wander forever, from sorrow unto sorrow.

Or so I've been told .

Amos

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - Jan 25
From: catspaw49
Date: 25 Jan 00 - 09:36 AM

Uh.....Having the flu is an identity crisis? I must admit my shallowness, because I have never once thought of this when I have the flu. All kidding aside, I truly admire you Peter. Your mind works in some mysterious ways. All that aside..........

The problem we all have with viruses is, perhaps, envy. If we could alter ourselves to fit every situation as rapidly and with the same adeptness as a virus, maybe we wouldn't get ourselves into so many bad spots. They have the ability to do what is necessary to sustain their "species" very quickly and, in the face of all intelligent(?) medical/scientific thought, continue to win. Were we to evolve so quickly and with such success, perhaps we wouldn't be facing the many man-made disasters that confront us.

Nah.....They're probably just lucky........never mind.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - Jan 25
From: MMario
Date: 25 Jan 00 - 09:37 AM

A very interesting way of looking at it, but how true. I've seen several articles on development dealing with the ways ones views on identity change with age and maturity. I didn't agree with them all (I am not at all sure it is more mature to consider your country as part of your identity then it is to consider your family as part of your identity...among other points) but this keys in very well with that.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - Jan 25
From: GUEST,Neil Lowe
Date: 25 Jan 00 - 10:36 AM

Human beings may have more in common with viruses than was once suspected. If the host's body is not able to ward off the onslaught of the germs, which are replicating like mad, then eventually the germs kill their host, and end their own bid for domination in the process. Sounds like a parallel could be drawn here.

Neil

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - Jan 25
From: catspaw49
Date: 25 Jan 00 - 10:42 AM

Good thought Neil. But the virus can also move to another host and also has the sense to lay dormant at times.

I think we're about to read way too much into this.......Next year get a flu shot.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - Jan 25
From: Penny S.
Date: 25 Jan 00 - 11:49 AM

Human beings aren't like viruses, self-replicating all over the place and destroying their host? Hmm.

Seriously, that's all the little meanies have to do, so they do it well. Boring life though, no music, no friends..

Replicate that RNA
Replicate that RNA
Gotta replicate all through the day,
So infiltrate that DNA

Penny

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - Jan 25
From: Amos
Date: 25 Jan 00 - 11:56 AM

There was two of them viruses mining the arterial walls of my pinto pony one time. One of them tole the other he was fixing to go off and stake out some new turf over on the venous side of things, but his buddy wouldn't go along, on account he was skeered of change, and rightly so it turned out. This adventurous virus migrated over tot he vein and starved plumb to death! Talk about identity crisis!

So, we learn the hard way: Don't change streams in the middle of a horse.

A.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - Jan 25
From: GUEST,Mbo
Date: 25 Jan 00 - 12:03 PM

We must make haste
We must make haste
We need some RNA reverse transcriptase!

We'll dethrone your chromosomes
We'll steam your genes
We'll steal you alleles!

Your rough ER and your smooth ER
They try their best
But here we are!

Your nucleus and lysosomes
They try to throw things at us
But we're busy disassembling your Golgi apparatus!

We all have protein capsules
And some have spores to boot
We can lie asleep for 10,000 years
And still wake up and go up your snoot!


--Mbo

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - Jan 25
From: Amos
Date: 25 Jan 00 - 01:00 PM

Wow, Mbo, that has the makings of a classic. But you have to pronounce the long words very fast to make 'em scan!

What a talent.

A.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - Jan 25
From: TerriM
Date: 25 Jan 00 - 01:25 PM

Interesting thread. I work with people who are HIV and AIDs infected. Their bodies have turned into their enemies not for a few weeks in a year, but for life.You cannot help but be impressed to watch and work with people who learn to cope with their best friend turning out to be their arch enemy.

Hope your 'flu's better soon Peter, I just got over it and it is pretty grim

Terri xx

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - Jan 25
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 25 Jan 00 - 01:47 PM

A lot of this sounds like what's been happening round the Mudcat recently, alien bugs taking over your RNA and so forth, and crises of identity.

And a bad dose of flu makes you dizzy and confused and disoriented and delirious. I had one last year (ie Christmas/New Year 1998). I got me a song out of it anyway - The Millennium Flu.

Did Mbo's impressive technobabble come out a bout of illness too? (Actually it's not technobabble, because so far as I can see it's scientifically spot-on, whereas technobabble is what you get in Star Trek when the scriptwriters have got the crew into a hole from which there is no escape: "Reverse the procastinating defluxers, and line them in with the aft trailsnatches.")

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - Jan 25
From: Peg
Date: 25 Jan 00 - 01:50 PM

hi all I had that flu this year; it was horrible. Hope you get better soon Peter! I was out of commission for ten days, and still have an occasional throat tickle... interesting theory you have...I have my own thoughts on the larger implications at work here...

(ahem: a rant on trying to avoid the flu, holistic medicine and the evils of antibiotics)

Until very recently I had been living without health insurance since graduate school (1990). I prided myself on learning and applying the tenets of holistic healing and preventive care, since I simply could not afford to go to a doctor when, say, I got the flu or whatever...

Having not been sick with more than a cold for years I got lazy this year and did not do my usual preventive things; then, spending the Xmas holidays with my parents, who both smoke like chimneys, my immune system no doubt got a heavy dose of smoky, dry, unrecycled air (like many homes in winter)--not to mention rich holiday food. Most colds are simply the body's response to the change of season lifestyle: less exercise, heavier foods to keep warm, drinking less water, less exposure to sunlight and fresh air, not to mention exposure in unventilated spaces (public transportation, offices, etc) to many more people...our blood acidity builds up, the body produces more mucus, and this creates a breeding ground for upper respiratory infection...including strep throat, bronchitis, pneumonia, influenza, and even tuberculosis...

I find gargling with a few drops of tea tree essential oil in warm water once per day in winter, more often if one notices early symptoms of a cold, helps keep these winter ailments at bay (wish I'd used it more often over the holidays! Gave some to my nephew who was just getting over the flu and he said it helped him a lot...). Tea tree is one of th emost powerful anti-microbials known to man; it kills the streptococchus bacilli, and countless other germs, rather effectively is used diligently...

Prevention is better than cure...some find echinacea and zinc supplements help them stave off infection...to be sure vitamin C, in the form of supplements or daily consumption of fruits and veggies (daily being the operative word, since it is water-soluble) helps boost the immune system...

One thing many do not realize is that cold medicines tend to prolong infection; since they eliminate the body's one sure method of eliminating infection (over-production of mucus)they tend to slow down the body's ability to heal...so using them sparingly if at all is the best bet. Of course if you cannot function or cannot sleep, an occasional decongestant or cough suppressant is not too bad (I even broke down and took them once or twice myself when I was sick recently, cuz I simply could not breathe well enough to sleep)...but there are far more healthful way to break up congestion and speed the process along...steam inhalations with herbs or essential oils, for example...no one likes to be blowing their nose endlessly for days, but it is a necessary process to get rid of infection. That is also why lots of fluid consumption is recommended; this particular bout of the flu this year caused lots of dehydration, more than usual...let's face it, the flu is getting stronger and mre virulent every year (thank you, technology, for providing us with bigger and better antibiotics and pesticides and anti-bacterial cleaners, so we could look forward to stronger, more resistant, disease-causing germs!). We need to arm ourselves with knowledge of healthy, preventive care, and not become enslave to pharmaceutical companies which, in the long run, are compounding the problem by making us dependent on drugs for every little complaint...

Peg who _rarely_ takes anything stonger than aspirin, has never taken a laxative or an antacid, and who thinks antibiotics, while they have their usefulness in emergencies, are basically making us all much more susceptible to disease through overuse...

(end of rant :)!)

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - Jan 25
From: katlaughing
Date: 25 Jan 00 - 02:40 PM

You go gyrl! Spot on, Peg! I couldn't have said it better m'self. And, I wound up doing the same thing, this holiday, neglected my usual of garlic, hawthorne tincture, along with plenty of water (I usually drink at least a gallon a day) and I had the flu for the first time in about 15 or 20 years! Didn't take anything except amaretto before bedtime tog et some sleep and it finally ran its course after about 2 weeks.

Peter, darlin', you have my sympathies; if I were there, I'd wrap you up in a cozy flannel, serve you some tea with honey and lemon, put on some good music, and soothe your fevered brow. Once again, I love your descriptions and the way your mind works is awesome. Since I amnot there, I guess you can do all those things yourself and just dream, okay?**BG**

katlaughing

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - Jan 25
From: GUEST,Mbo
Date: 25 Jan 00 - 03:04 PM

Thanks folks! The song doesn't come from experience--just from my college biology classes. The classes involved lots of studying & memorization to get A's--so here it is 2 years later, and I still remeber it all (I got the A, BTW). Oh McGrath, Star Trek doesn't use technobabble--you need to read the Star Trek Technical Manual--where you can understand what EPS conduits, plasma manifolds, the warp grid, and the antimatter chambers are, as well as other features of warp mechanics. I do! And some of it's really technologically accurate. There was this one episode where Ferengis hijacked the Enterprise--so the crew used technobabble to confuse them so they couldn't pilot the ship--mostly babble that had references to Back To The Future and Quantum Leap. Ha ha!

Oh yeah, my brains out there fighting the foreign enemy--only problem is in my particular "ailment" the foreign enemy is actually a natural part of the body that the brains randomly chooses to destroy. Not a very good thing!

--Mbo (I'll think of MORE verses!)

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - Jan 25
From: Angus McSweeney
Date: 25 Jan 00 - 10:09 PM

Peter, Just what was your temp when you wrote yesterdays' "thought". I'm guessing 102F or higher. Get well soon and how's the chromatic scales going?

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - Jan 25
From: Metchosin
Date: 25 Jan 00 - 10:43 PM

Just a further note to Pegs remarks, I was advised by a doctor, "do not, repeat, do not use cough remedies with DM in them". Seems we need to get rid of all that crap in our lungs by coughing (so worse stuff doesn't set in) and a cough suppressant is not advisable. If you must, use an expectorant to loosen it up. Seems there has been a significant rise in cases of adult pneumonia since DM has been on the market. Very profitable for the American health care system.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - Jan 25
From: Peg
Date: 26 Jan 00 - 12:53 PM

amen to that Metchosin!

There is a reason people who can't afford Ripple guzzle Robitussin DM instead...the stuff is addictive...I heard it was being discontinued but not sure...Werner Herzog is shown drinking it down in the movie "julien donkey-boy"...

BTW there is a theory that asthma is on the rise in our fair country because (get this) we don't ingest enough dirt anymore...similar to the notion that has many people taking colloidal silver, a natural antibiotic, because our topsoil, leached of minerals, no longer allows this trace mineral (among others)into our food...

also similar to the notion that we can no longer fight off many common infections because there is too much anti-bacterial chemical action in our environment... do yerselves a favor: limit household cleaners to the most basic stuff available: Simply Green, Dr. Bronner's, baking soda, white vinegar...and be sure to water down the way-too-concentrated window and bathroom cleaners by half...

peg