His condition fell sharply, as you know, but more recently he suffered a quite apalling brain hemorrhage that has left him vegatative. The news, and sight, as a father seeing his own son so gravely ill is something I cannot put into words. Indeed, I have been unable to speak for several weeks.

A few of us are endeavouring to preserve his memory and work, which is the least we can do.

I know he would like me to do this for all of you, as well as spare a special loving mention of his dearest Kiki.

Kind wishes to all,

Ed's loving father

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It's lovely and sunny here in Norwich, and I've just completed some therapy for my arms and neck, hence my being able to type and blog for a few petty minutes.
I'm still desperately weak, and can hardly move at all.

I've included a sumptuous video below, which is my current favourite song, and is also a graphic masterpiece, (which mirrors my own feelings right now), so please take a coffee, a tea, latte, ribena or lucozade, sit back, chill, and enjoy 6 minutes for yourself...you'll feel better, you know you will.

Love,
Ed
xx

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"There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there are only 4 ways out of this airplane..."

"Your seat cushions can be used for floatation, and in the event of an emergency water landing, please take them with our compliments."

"We do feature a smoking section on this flight; if you must smoke, contact a member of the flight crew and we will escort you to the wing of the airplane."

"Smoking in the lavatories is prohibited. Any person caught smoking in the lavatories will be asked to leave the plane immediately."

"Good morning. As we leave Dallas, it's warm, the sun is shining, and the birds are singing. We are going to Charlotte, where it's dark, windy and raining. Why in the world y'all wanna go there I really don't know."

Pilot - "Folks, we have reached our cruising altitude now, so I am going to switch the seat belt sign off. Feel free to move about as you wish, but please stay inside the plane till we land... it's a bit cold outside, and if you walk on the wings it affects the flight pattern."

Pilot - "Folks, if you were with us last week, we never got around to mentioning that it was National Procrastination day. If you get a chance this week, please try to celebrate it. If you can't get to it, then maybe try to do it at the weekend, but no big rush. Have a nice day."

And, after landing: "Thank you for flying Delta Business Express. We hope you enjoyed giving us the business as much as we enjoyed taking you for a ride."

As we waited just off the runway for another airliner to cross in front of us, some of the passengers were beginning to retrieve luggage from the overhead bins. The head steward announced on the intercom, "This aircraft is equipped with a video surveillance system that monitors the cabin during taxiing. Any passengers not remaining in their seats until the aircraft comes to a full and complete stop at the gate will be strip-searched asthey leave the aircraft.

As the plane landed and was coming to a stop at Washington National, a lone voice comes over the loudspeaker: "Whoa, big fella...WHOA..!"

"Should the cabin lose pressure, oxygen masks will drop from the overhead area. Please place the bag over your own mouth and nose before assisting children or adults acting like children."

"As you exit the plane, please make sure to gather all of your belongings. Anything left behind will be distributed evenly among the flight attendants. Please do not leave children or spouses."

And from the pilot during his welcome message: "We are pleased to have some of the best flight attendants in the industry... Unfortunately none of them are on this flight!"

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It's a sunny day here in Norfolk, and very mild again...

...my paralysis is still dreadful, with neck, arm and leg movements now extremely limited, but I seek a glimmer of hope in every movement possible.

...as I'm dealing with M.E. I found this article quite interesting, as the mind has always fascinated me, with it's oddities and profundities.

Finding a friend in a crowd, searching for a nickel in a pile of coins, and locating a jar of mustard in the refrigerator are examples of visual search tasks. Two University of Iowa, Iowa City, researchers have made an important step forward in understanding how these tasks are performed by the human visual system.

Geoffrey F. Woodman, a graduate student, and Steven J. Luck, associate professor of psychology, found that, when humans look at collections of objects, attention is focused on a single object at a time and moves from one to the next in about a tenth of a second. Research has shown that the more complex a visual image is, the longer it takes for the human brain to process the entire scene. Scientists have long debated the reason for this, with some arguing that the longer processing time indicates serial processing and others believing that it indicates parallel processing.

As an analogy, Luck notes that serial processing is like a construction company with 100 employees who work together to build one house at a time, whereas parallel processing is like a company that erects 10 houses simultaneously with 10 employees working on each house. Similarly, the human brain might devote all of its capacity to one object at a time and shift rapidly from one to the next, or it might process all of the objects in a visual scene nearly simultaneously, with just a fraction of the brain's capacity devoted to each.

Woodman and Luck are the first to show definitively that the human brain processes complex images serially--attending to one thing at a time, but shifting rapidly from object to object. "This may seem counterintuitive because it doesn't feel like we perceive only one object at a time," Luck indicates. Although it may seem that when you look at a scene you are seeing the whole picture, each object in the scene commands your attention in rapid succession.

The researchers demonstrated serial processing by having subjects search for a specific object in a display containing many other objects. They were shown a group of squares and told to search for the one with a gap in the left side. Most of the squares were black, but the picture also included one red and one green square on opposite sides of the image. The subjects were told that the target square probably would be red, but might be green. This was done to bias the subjects to search in a specific order.

Woodman and Luck used EEG recordings, which monitor brain waves in the same way as an EKG monitors heart activity. To track attention with the EEG, they measured a brain wave that indicates where attention is focused. They found that attention, as indicated by this brain wave, shifted rapidly from the red square on one side of the image to the green square on the other, which demonstrates serial processing.

Woodman compares this type of visual activity to searching for a piece of a jigsaw puzzle among a pile of pieces that will make up the completed picture. You can ignore pieces that are the wrong color, just as the subjects in his experiment ignored the black squares. Once you find several pieces that are the right color, though, you must focus your attention on them individually to see if they also have the correct shape.

Luck says this research will contribute to the long-standing quest to understand exactly how human vision works, which some day may lead to computerized visual systems. He cautions, however, that there is still a long way to go before robots or other forms of artificial intelligence that can match human vision can be created. "A huge proportion of the brain is devoted to vision. We have so much brain power devoted to vision that perceiving scenes seems easy, but it is really an incredibly complex process."

from, Society for the Advancement of Education.

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Not much to report, other than my worsening condition again, and flow through the peaks and troughs unfortunately...this time though, I've suffered paralysis of the legs and arms for long periods, and a deepening pain that itensifies my emotional state, which is of course anxiety and frustration.

I did pick up one point from the news though, which made me smile, and it came from BT, who monitored their phone boxes in Scotland and found that 6 had not been used at all in the past year!!! What a thought. I believe one was in Edinburgh, so they were hardly remote.

I'll try to get round to visiting your posts when I have the power to do so. In the mean time, have a great evening.

Love,
Ed
xx

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I'm back to my useful 'home' in the ward now, and able to resume my pc usage, albeit slightly.

I've been filled with medicines and a whole host of "anti-anxiety" tablets for my recent condition and for the operation that awaits in well under two weeks.

I've a special programme of therapy to perform until then, and regular rest as my stomach is still desperate, after the damage it suffered last year. Perhaps that will never be the same.

I'm delighted to learn this morning that Norwich City won again, making it 11 unbeaten in the league, and now rising to 13th in the table. Glenn Roeder has turned us around, well worth a cheer I think.

Have a happy Sunday dear friends, now it's time for my rest once more!

Ed
xx

A man died and went to heaven. As he stood in front of St. Peter at the Pearly Gates, he saw a huge wall of clocks behind him. He asked, "What are all those clocks?"
St. Peter answered, "Those are Lie-Clocks. Everyone on Earth has a Lie-Clock. Every time you lie the hands on your clock will move." "
Oh," said the man, "whose clock is that?"
"That's Mother Teresa's. The hands have never moved, indicating that she never told a lie."
"Incredible," said the man. "And whose clock is that one?"
St. Peter responded, "That's Abraham Lincoln's clock. The hands have moved twice, telling us that Abe told only two lies in his entire life."
"Where's George Bush's clock?" asked the man.
"Bush's clock is in Jesus' office. He's using it as a ceiling fan."

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Some desire is necessary to keep life in motion.

~Samuel Johnson

Hello everyone,

I'm awake to the roaring sound of the wind howling outside within the eddy of hospital buildings. What an ironic name...

Yesterday I had some scans for my spinal cord and neck, and some physio, traction, and then treatments and injections. I felt euphoria for an hour or so, then deep depression. Being filled up with harder drugs is not a good path to take, but I realise it may be the only one. (I now reterm it, mediSIN.)

The scan revealed some rather disconcerting news; I will need yet another major spinal operation on February 12th.
I'm just not ready for this, how can it be? Am I still unconscious? This just cannot be happening to me.
It is a surprise at how soon it is, because usually they 'offer' surgery several months hence, but not this time.

So that means I'll have to find some more resolve in just two weeks.

It's got to be better than this, surely....surely...

Have a lovely day,
Ed
xx

The unexamined life is not worth living.

~Socrates

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Twilight, and another pall of darkness descends
beneath the revered Oak's bough I await life's threads
a calling, of spine chilling wintry frequence
am I lost? Yes, most definitely a numbing maelstrom
I care not for the grey area of this malignant outcome
for the heart reels again and again in the hours of absence

thirteen minutes past six and still nothing's flown
this junction of a heavily congested emotional zone
no guesses as to why, and no key for hope to imply
memories remain on the bench, now the game's nearly over
ninety minutes have flown by, without extra-time for the younger-
half of me, unto the tournament of life instigating reasons why

working on the basis of memory, is that hope enough?
life and death are twins of our very being which we cannot rebuff
continually looking into our subconsciousness and daily torsion
no positive way to turn when the pull of loss is so intense
falling to four or five degrees with no more warmth left to dispense
it's now dark, calm, heartbeats fade through an unknown curtain

a sequacious passing surprisingly benign as if nothing's happened
where on earth am I? nature's healing talent has deadened
picturesque souvenirs, ethereal tints, a paraph unseen
the human touch raised with motherly tenderness
without which life becomes a skyward finial so aimless
what I now 'see' is a moment of icy stillness unforeseen.

by wensum24
©2008wensum24

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Because of the crisis in the world today that is
causing people to worry about stocks, bonds, loans,
credit, inflation and the value of money several of my
close internet friends (and a few of my everyday
friends here) have been talking to me about their own
financial situation. A few are asking for advice.

Contemplating all of this I realized very few
understand any of this at all. So, here, as short as
I can make it, off the top of my head, are some
answers, and, some good advice.

LESSON ONE

For thousands of years as a human culture would
develop and a government to oversee that culture would
get established those in power realized that something
would need to be created to act as a symbol of the
effort placed through labor into the production of
"goods", and, that symbol would also need to represent
the value of those goods produced by that labor.

Money is a created thing. From nothing, a ruler says,
this symbol represents your value. Use this symbol to
declare your value is promoted by the ruler.

The rulers would then cause these symbols to be mass
produced. When the rulers bought things or ordered
people to work for them they would "pay" for these
things with these symbols. Thus these symbols would
filter out into the hands of private persons. Those
citizens would use the symbols themselves. Bartering
for labor or for goods was replaced with symbols of
worth.

Rule #1 - Money is just a symbol, and, what gives it
power is the belief by those using the symbols that
they have a firm value.

Rule #2 - When this belief gets stressed out because
of trouble touching the lives of the people within a
given culture these symbols of worth change in value.

Rule #3 - When a society fails so do these symbols
fail. Eventually every monetary system from history
eventually failed and those money symbols became
worthless.

Rule #4 - Eventually the symbols used today as money
by every varied culture on earth will fail and become
worthless.

The question today that needs to be asked by everyone
is this. How do I protect myself from financial
failure? What are the things I can do to help insure
when symbols of worth are in trouble because of events
within my culture that I also will not get into
trouble?

I will try to simplistically explain the truth
everyone needs to know and also reveal an ancient
hidden secret of how someone can easily secure their
economic future. (hint - DO NOT GAMBLE - INVEST IN
SOMETHING THAT IS NOT JUST A SYMBOL)

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I enjoyed the sunlight of yesterday, and the sunbeams coming off kiki's Lisboa blog, as today is truly and utterly...cloudy here.

I've to have a busier day than expected, with a neck scan later this morning, and an in depth look at the 'workings of my spine', so I'm told. This is fine, but I become fearful when doctor's jump from one thing to another like this, as it becomes an avalanche of emotion for little me, the patient.

I keep on having dreams of my childhood in France, with my late Grandfather taking care of me...indeed I now realise in the sobering light of day, that my dream contained all my dearly departed family members, some of whom I still cannot bring myself to admit have 'gone.

Have a lovely day dear friends.

Love,
Ed
xxx

PS: I must give credit to Norwich City's wonderful victory last night, winning 1-0 at Southampton brings to 10 the number of unbeaten games we've had.

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A farmer built an entire mock castle behind a screen of hay bales and lived there concealed for four years to evade planning regulations, officials said on Friday -- but it may be torn down anyway.

Robert Fidler hopes to take advantage of a provision of planning law that allows buildings without planning permission to be declared legal if no objections have been made after four years
But Reigate and Banstead Borough Council in Surrey is not impressed.

"It does not count because the property was hidden behind hay bales," said a spokeswoman. "No one knew it was there."

The council wants the building near Redhill some 30 km south of London to be demolished, along with an associated conservatory, marquee structure, wooden bridge, patio, decking and tarmac racecourse.

"It looks like a mock-Tudor house from the front and it's got two turrets at the back," the spokeswoman said. "I understand there is also a cannon."

The couple would have been unlikely to get planning permission as the farm was in "green belt" land where building was restricted, she said. A hearing takes place in February.

Fidler's wife Linda told the Daily Mail newspaper the children grew up looking at straw out of the windows of the house and that they kept their son away from playschool on the day his class were due to do paintings of their houses.

"We couldn't have him drawing a big blue haystack," she said. "People might ask questions."

Planning inspectors had been called to the site by concerned neighbours shortly before Fidler took the hay bales down in summer 2006 but had not seen the house.

"When the inspectors went there, all they saw was hay bales and hay bales on agricultural land are not that unusual," the spokeswoman said.

"I think the neighbours thought there might be something going on but it is difficult to tell, isn't it?"

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This won't take a minute. (The minute hand is a two-ended sword)

I beg your pardon. (If it be royal, then no, you may not!!)

It's certain that it may rain. (It's definitely probable and quite likely that you're just about going to be right.)

I wasn't going to say anything, but... (In my hour of silence, let me say...)

Act your age (But time passes so fast, how can I??)

I told you so (But only when I wasn't around eh??)

I don't wish to change the subject, but... (Is this a question of subject matter??)

Why can't you be more like (---)... (Oh if only

Is that all you've got to say for yourself? (Unless more magical words have popped-out, yes, that is all.)

I'm hopping mad... (I'm in stitches~~ ~~)

Now, I don't know how to tell you this, but... (Oh well, if you don't know how to tell me, then how can I listen?)

Are you sure you've done this before? (Well, now you come to mention it, I'm having second thoughts)

I'm having second thoughts about this. (Are you sure you've done this before??)

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Like soft Anglian winds and broad skies
lasting forever, endlessly playing upon my mind
fields stretch like buntings from emotional bows
here is the last place I ever expected to find
overtly free is the blood with an element of surprise
for you gave me light in our worlds intertwined

'why' need not ask any more questions of truth
for the meaning is imbedded into life and death
both answer to all or nothing, and we between
so what does it take to summon a last breath
only a mother can bestow upon us eternal youth
so when such days shall pass, I wait with bated breath.

© 2008wensum24

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Body: A thing of shreds and patches, borrowed unequally from good and bad ancestors and a misfit from the start.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happy Sunday to you all,

It's sunny, clear, and very mild outside here in Norwich.
While listening to Liverpool's astonishingly abject display against a beautifully spirited Havant & Waterlooville I noticed a 'fall' in my own health too.
Sorry to continually write about my cursed health, but overnight I needed emergency assistance due to the damaged stomach lining and related problems. During the night it felt like a one foot needle was passing through a place that should only pass water, and nearly knocked me out...I was sweating like crazy and in extreme pain, and thankfully help came an hour after the symptoms begun. I'm all tubed up now, being monitored and have no idea where I am, or what it is that happened. The hours after 11pm do not register right now.

Well, I surely wish you a great day, and happy wishes to you all.

Love,
Ed
xx

Linkin Park: "What I've Done"

Take care of your body with steadfast fidelity. The soul must see through these eyes alone, and if they are dim, the whole world is clouded.
- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

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Do you believe there is something, as yet, beyond our comprehension?

I think it is a classic case of the mind 'stretching' itself, when we enter into such thoughts of an area we have never discovered; the universe rather like our own brains, so much apparently there, but as yet unused, unseen, unknown, undiscovered...

astronomers think they've discovered a whole lot of nothing. In the constellation Eridanus, near Orion, some 10 billion light-years from Earth, there appears to be a vast expanse of empty space, completely devoid of matter--no stars, no planets, no black holes, no gases, not even any dark matter. It's almost a billion light-years across, more than sixty times larger than any previously known cosmic void.

The void's discoverers--Lawrence Rudnick of the University of Minnesota, his collaborator Liliya R. Williams, and his graduate student Shea Brown--already knew the region was unusual because cosmic microwave background radiation (ubiquitous faint radio waves left over from the big bang) appears much weaker there than elsewhere in the cosmos. Then the team's analysis of data from the Very Large Array radio telescope in New Mexico eliminated the possibility that the region's microwave signal was being obscured by radio waves from nearby galaxies: there are just too few "radio galaxies" in the vicinity to do the job.

The remaining possibility was empty space, which could also weaken the signal--thanks to the effect of omnipresent dark energy. Rudnick's calculation of the void's colossal size is based on the apparent weakness of the radiation. (Astrophysical Journal)

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My little phone has been sounding the tune of sales for one week now, without more than an hour's break, I get repeated recorded sales from somewhere or other, the first of which 'stole' a great chunk off my credit. I have got so tired of this type of thing that I don't bother answering anymore, why can't they leave me alone.

WHEN I SAY I'M BROKE...I'M BROKE

A little old lady answered a knock on the door one day, only to be confronted by a well-dressed young man carrying a vacuum cleaner.
" Good morning, " said the young man. "If I could take a couple of minutes of your time, I would like to demonstrate the very latest in high-powered vacuum cleaners."
"Go away!" said the old lady. "I haven't got any money!" and she proceeded to close the door.
Quick as a flash, the young man wedged his foot in the door and pushed it wide open. "Don't be too hasty!" he said. "Not until you have at least seen my demonstration." And with that, he emptied a bucket of horse manure onto her hallway carpet. "If this vacuum cleaner does not remove all traces of this horse manure from your carpet, Madam, I will personally eat the remainder."
The old lady stepped back and said, "Well I hope you've got a damned good appetite, because they cut off my electricity this morning."

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I'm hearing Panjabi MC from across the wards, which is most pleasing actually.

Today I have unearthed something a bit creepy, and very disconcerting indeed. Last autumn, when things were taking an about-turn for the worse, a doctor had requested "urgent treatment" to my neck, which was, and still is, having dreadful problems due to the 4 fractures of the spine. To this day I am unable to turn my head left, and not very far right either, which sounds quite political but isn't!!

Well, this doctor was quite right, of course, but the hospital have failed to listen, or failed to receive the said request, because I never had treatment to the neck. Now, it may have 'set' forever for all I know.

There's no point me crying over spilled calpol now, as I made it out of the comotose state, and what with loosing family members, I've had several reality checks, more than enough to make me appreciate even being able to type, let alone laugh, eat, or breathe.

My father gave me a lovely illustrated copy of Kilvert's Diary, filled with paintings of old England, and many nature paintings as well...what a joy this is for me right here, right now. Just a book...but it not only opened from the cover onwards, it opened my eyes, and unlocked another door that must have waited until becoming rusted and swollen...however, despite the creaking, it duly opened for me, and something brighter has appeared, in a warmly hue...and I am hoping to learn from it.

Take care, and enjoy your weekend everyone.

Love,
Ed
xx

PS: Just as I sign off, I have heard from some other source, "The Archers" theme blowing memorially across the wards.

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1. If there's a 50-50 chance that a forecast will go wrong, 9 times out of 10 it will.

2. No matter how the forecast turns out - there's always another forecaster who "knew it would"

3. The forecaster who "knew it would happen that way", never told anyone else about it before hand.

4. The unwritten forecast is always the one that verifies best.

5. No two weather patterns are alike, although someone will remember one just like this that occurred back in '84.

6. Prog charts are like clocks:
...if you only have one, you always know exactly what time it is.
...if you have more than one - you're never sure.

7. Time savers don't.
Work savers won't.
Short cuts aren't.

8. A storm will develop only after it has been forecasted for several Days... then not mentioned.

9. Heavy snow will generally end once a winter storm warning has been issued.

10. Rules of thumb work best on someone else's shift.

11. You never notice the "glitch" in the forecast wording until after you've pressed the enter button.

12. No matter how far in advance you forecast a significant storm, the media will always call it unexpected.

13. When in doubt:
...mumble a lot
...talk with food in your mouth
...change the DTG and reissue

14. Additional newly found data will always screw up a good analysis.

15. Always pass the buck to the shift that you just relieved (or to the Hub).

16. I don't care what guidance says - I always make up my forecast while I'm driving to work.

17. Total confusion frequently results in outstanding performance.

18. Murphy's law: the disk you needed more data from... you just erased.

19. If you get a "gut feeling" about a forecast - its probably heartburn.

20. When writing a forecast discussion make it so long that no one will bother to read it.

21. Never say "NEVER"

22. If everything in the office worked as well as the fridge and microwave, this would be a great place to work!

23. Bribing the observer will only be tolerated from just before, until just after verification times.

24. Remember - all extended forecasts fall into the realm of make believe stuff.

*Ex-RAF meteorologist Ian McCaskill was TV's cuddliest little Scotsman. His lilting Glasgow accent and enthusiasm as he bounced about in front of the blue screen made everyone feel in a sunny mood, no matter what the forecast. McCaskill's receding hairline, thick-rimmed glasses and bushy eyebrows made him ripe for parody, from Rory Bremner to Spitting Image, but he was affectionally regarded by everyone and his retirement in 1998 marked a great loss to BBC's weather team.

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22. Virga (tails of water, drops or ice coming from a cloud)

21. Hoarfrost

20. Steam Fog

19. Heat Wave

18. Wedge

17. Overshooting Top

16. Warm Push

15. Barber Pole

14. Rotating Head

13. Choking Downdraft

12. Mammatus Clouds

11. Vertically Erect System

10. Orogenous Zone

9. Haboob

8. Rear-end Inflow

7. Bulging Top

6. Moist Tongue

5. Suction Vortices

4. Dry Slot

3. Wet Bulb

2. Panhandle Hooker

1. Beaver Tail

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When a teenager at school, and after, all my friends smoked, which was never a problem, I was the only one who didn't...my friends knew it, I knew it, end of story.
My grandparents smoked too, as did all my uncles, cousins etc.
My first job was in a small working office, measuring only 16x20, and three of my colleagues smoked whilst working in a paper office, up until 1990, causing the ceiling to almost disappear due to the haze...I never cared particularly, and nor would I change it if I could go back.

So, as a complete non-smoker, I have tremendous sympathy for those that do, who are being hounded out of society as if there is no tomorrow. While people are being murdered on a daily basis in Britain, the PC police are spending hours upon hours a day working for the common "good" to stamp out smoking, even after dark, in people's own back yards.
This, I feel is disgraceful. Can't our bloody governments wake up and see the reality of fear in our society...cigarettes are not going to kill us as quickly as a druggy with a knife and no remorse.
When the minister whose job it is to tackle crime publically admits that she is frightened to go outside, we know we've got problems.

We must fight to defend out liberties, before faceless, nameless political leaders with sickly edicts steal all from us.
We MUST speak out and speak up!!!!

The following article caught my eye, because I think there is a deep moral to be found, as France is a country I know very well indeed.

France has banned it's Frenchness

The reams of news stories on the new French ban on smoking in cafes, restaurants and night spots have invariably focused on the aura of glamour those little death sticks once conveyed. In newspapers around the globe, nostalgic descriptions of the likes of Coco Chanel or Albert Camus taking a luxurious drag on a cigarette have been, um, de rigueur.

But to focus on the diminished allure of the cigarette is to miss the significance of the French banning the most cinematic of sins. No, it's not that the French gave the cigarette -- the "little cigar" -- its name or that the plant's active ingredient was named after Jean Nicot, the diplomat who introduced tobacco to the royal court of France in 1559. Rather, it's the role the French have played in the world's imagination.

Just as California, which imposed the first public smoking ban in 1994, has long been a symbol of clean living, France -- land of wine, women and rich food -- has been the global model of elegant indulgence and well-choreographed excess.

Particularly to the guilty, austere American mind, France has served as a sophisticated and less uptight oasis in a way that other more illicit and gritty getaways -- think Tijuana or New Orleans -- could not. It is the French who have given us terms for the things we lust after but rarely indulge in -- like femmes fatales or ménages à trois. They have been the baroque to our utilitarian sensibility. And by example, they have given us the sense that there is more to life than work, and that some "sins," ritualized and accepted, may protect us against even more destructive cycles of self-denial and excess.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending the glories of smoking. I have never smoked a cigarette in my life. I even agree wholeheartedly with smoking bans in workplaces and restaurants. But I do find it absurd when smoking is banned in nocturnal haunts where adults commonly repair to imbibe known-to-be toxic beverages and otherwise indulge in (lightly) supervised, socially acceptable self-abuse.

That old font of American wisdom, Ben Franklin, once said that "sin is not hurtful because it is forbidden, but it is forbidden because it is hurtful." In the U.S., contemporary public health specialists and moralists don't employ the word of God to stamp out sin, but they do rally around the notion of the common good. They single out particular evils that they believe deserve to be suppressed at all costs. Think temperance and prohibition.

The French, on the other hand, with their traditional and vaunted tolerance of sensual indulgence, seemed to have known all along that such attempts to suppress hurtful things can itself be, well, unhealthy. In France, children as young as 5 may be allowed to sip wine at dinner, and so become acquainted with alcohol as an accompaniment to food. That may account for the fact that French kids aren't often caught binge drinking as kids are in Britain and the U.S., countries that have traditionally harbored puritanical attitudes toward drink. As our experiment in prohibition proved, we know only too well how draconian moral legislation can provoke behavioral backlash.

For the record, I think all those romantic images of Jean-Paul Belmondo wreathed in cigarette smoke are old and tired. As far as I'm concerned, the French government should encourage its citizens to quit smoking. And I'm all for any government putting reasonable limits on public access to smoke and drink, particularly when children are concerned.

But when France begins to over-legislate adult personal behavior aux americains, it may be denying its own brand of wisdom: We all need to be a little bad once in awhile. The smoking ban in France suggests that the French have forgotten the sage words of one of its greatest smokers: "If I satiate my desires, I sin but I deliver myself from them," wrote Jean-Paul Sartre. "If I refuse to satisfy them, they infect the whole soul."

Watch out Britain! Next it will be drinkers, with PM Brown's increased taxes on alcohol, to 'protect our health' of course!

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Would you wish to move ahead to reach your goal, or return to a past time, to rewrite something, or attend to an 'unfinished sentence'?

Which would you choose to do?

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This current economic bad news is the beginning of a
roller coaster like decline. There may be gains along
the way, but, not enough. The slope is downhill. The
world markets are in real trouble. If the US dollar
suffers a major devaluation in the year 2008 it will
ripple across the world.

For decades the modern expansion of societies has been
built on credit. Modern roads, airports, military
expansion by big countries has been done on credit.
The real trouble started when international banking
worked hard to get the common man deeply into debt
also it created a ticking time bomb.

The last 30 years has seen a wave of public
consumerism purchasing a standard of living based upon
debt. Houses, cars, electronics, extravagant
vacations, air travel, etc. Huge loans on homes.
Credit card debt. Now people are using credit cards
in grocery stores and gas stations.

Common "middle class" people have developed a standard
of living that when I was a child only the very very
rich could attain to. This living standard expansion
both by private citizens and the upgrading of
government services built around this debt has been so
foolish.

The tipping point has been reached. Today on earth
people and governments owe more money in paper debt
than all the cash money combined that exists in all
the banks on earth. (this is a fact)

The value of paper money is based only on faith.
Where does paper money come from? How does it get
into the vaults of banks? What determines it's worth
in buying power? It is an artificial system.

For thousands of years wealth was backed by diamonds,
gold, silver etc. Something that could not be
artificially created by mans hand was true wealth.
Over the last hundred years since governments realized
they could just print money this coming disaster began
to be put into place.

In history when one country collapsed and it's money
became worthless the damage was confined to one
region, one set of local banks, one culture.

Now, the whole earth is tied together in this modern
world. Banking is international. Business
development is international. Borrowing for expansion
is international. Debt is everywhere. You see
teenagers carrying credit cards.

A bad economic collapse is no longer regional. Now it
can sweep across the planet effecting all people in a
matter of hours.

The price for the worlds high standard of living is
coming due and people do not have the ACTUAL wealth to
pay the bill. Failure to pay on loans is sweeping
across the planet. This will cause the artificial
paper money to be unwanted. It's buying power is
based upon peoples faith in it. If powerful note
holders do not get paid it stops the availability of
credit. Without credit the daily interaction of
commerce in the modern world can shrink to almost
nothing in a matter of days.

Imagine if the oil producing countries suddenly said,
"pay us with real precious items like gold and
silver", what would happen?

I hope this brief explanation helps you understand why
we are all in trouble.

Soon a handful of truly wealthy people, those with no
debt and they own in hand diamonds, platinum, gold and
silver etc, they will be able to buy things for
"pennies on the dollar" buying when paper money
collapses.

Slowly over hundreds of years the planet has developed
small groups of people who own the real wealth. This
next collapse will allow them to become extremely wealthy. Their storehouses of gold and silver will go
up in value so dramatically that they will be like
SUPER KINGS of the earth.

Before the coming total collapse happens anyone who
can get out of debt, sell off stocks and bonds and
convert to real storage of precious metal will set up
the ability to survive economically.

A worldwide economic depression is on the near
horizon.

I recommend going into internet searches and read
articles about "economic depression" and the real
value of gold and silver. Study the 1928-29 economic
collapse and what followed in societies across the
planet including America.

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Afternoon all,

It's cloudy here again, surprise surprise.

Last night was a particularly gruelling one for yours truly, with blood pressure reaching levels capable of causing strokes, and a stomach unable to deal with any kind of food, least of all hospital grub.
I was sedated and slept, out cold, until around 7am. The first thing I remember about today was a peculiar 'spiced' pain in my stomach, which is, apparently, a side-effect of some spectacularly powerful medicine administered last evening.

My blood pressure is still dreadful, but nothing like as bad as was...

Friends, I mentioned The Lightning Process before didn't I, well, thanks to your help and my own researches here, I am able to get NHS help in the form of CBT, (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), which may trigger some optimism in my depleted system.
Though I am not in the catagory of being out and out depressed, I am very down due to grieving, and suffering with hospital-related problems for too long, so this may help in the short-term. I certainly hope so.

Take care everyone.
Love,
Ed
xx

If the relationship functions, then there is nothing to talk about.
If the relationship doesn't function, then there is still nothing to talk about.

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This has been a battle for me, to withstand the pain, and to fend-off the threat of 'going under' once again.

My blood pressure rocketed today once more, touching 222/112 at one point. I remember feeling a waterbreak sensation in my head, on the left side, and an intense pain all the way to my feet, rendering me stupified and eventually knocking me out. Nothing new, but something I thought, and hoped, could be left to the past.

Writing is my defence against losing control and falling away, it is my key, my note, my window, my imagination, my vision, my call, my voice, my hope.

Take care all.
Love,
Ed
xx

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Physicists have found that one erratic driver can cause a traffic jam.

Most traffic jams have an obvious cause. Sometimes it is a blocked lane or a bottleneck on a multi-lane highway. An exit or entry lane can disrupt the flow as cars slow down to leave or to let others onto the road. A hill can bring things grinding to a halt behind a slow-moving lorry. Now a Japanese physicist reports in the journal Physical Review E1 that a jam can also result from a more insidious factor: a single driver whose speed fluctuates unpredictably.

Computer models are now used to predict the traffic flow pattern in some cities, with data from a few monitoring stations. In a typical traffic model, each vehicle tries to accelerate to a certain desired speed, and modifies its speed in response to the vehicles ahead with a certain response time and sensitivity to change.

These models indicate that a wide range of behaviour is possible, depending on the volume of traffic -- defined by the density of vehicles and their average speed. At low volume, cars move more or less independently, achieve their preferred speed, and change lanes at will. At high volume, the smallest disturbances trigger a jam of slow-moving or even stationary traffic.

At intermediate volumes, the flow may become 'provisionally stable'. Small local perturbations to the flow die away. Larger ones amplify into a jam. Congested regions can be pinned to the point of disturbance, for example extending back from an exit lane, or they can travel in waves back down the flow.

All of this is reasonably well understood, and may help traffic planners to design speed restrictions and junctions that minimize jams.

But Takashi Nagatani of Shizuoka University in Japan has identified a new hazard: the 'fluctuating vehicle'. He says that on a one-lane highway, a single car within a stream of traffic can send waves of congestion propagating down the line behind it simply by varying its speed, even if it maintains the same average speed as the rest of the flow.

This kind of driver is quite common. The parent distracted by children who then accelerates to catch up with the vehicles ahead; the tired lorry driver whose attention is wandering; the ageing car that struggles on small inclines but makes up for it downhill -- could all show greater speed variations than the rest of the traffic.

Nagatani's model indicates that the transitory increase in traffic density behind this car, as others slow down to compensate (or maybe just to keep a cautious distance), can grow into a persistent cluster of dense traffic that moves backwards relative to the fluctuating vehicle. And that it soon becomes unclear that the one caused the other.

The erratic car can trigger a whole train of these density waves, which move upstream like shock waves. The situation worsens as the average speed of the flow (which is the fluctuating car's average speed too) slows. First, the waves of congested traffic grow until the traffic is more like a fully congested flow with occasional regions of low-density traffic. Then, for still slower speeds, even these 'free flow' regions vanish, and a jam of congested traffic propagates backwards behind the fluctuating vehicle -- which, because its average speed is still the same, is probably oblivious to the chaos it is leaving in its wake.

So in medium traffic, says Nagatani, a single individual driving erratically enough can induce most of the jamming usually seen only in heavy traffic.

Philip Ball

I just had the thought, in Britain at least, with so many speed cameras EVERYWHERE, isn't it more likely for us ALL to slow down in unison causing our daily 600+ mile tailback?

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Some medical students thoughts and answers on the practice of medicine;

General:

"The body consists of three parts - the brainium, the borax, and the abominable cavity. The brainium contains the brain; the borax, the heart and lungs; and the abominable cavity, the bowls, of which there are five - a, e, i, o, and u."

Respiration:

"When you breathe, you inspire. When you do not breathe, you expire"
"Respiration consists of two acts: first inspiration, then expectoration."

Cardiovascular:
"The three kinds of blood vessels are arteries, veins, and caterpillars."

Gastrointestinal:
"The alimentary canal is located in the northern part of Alabama."

Dentistry:
"A permanent set of teeth consists of eight canines, eight cuspids, two molars, and eight cuspidors."

Orthopaedics:
"The skeleton is what is left after the insides have been taken out and the outsides have been taken off. The purpose of the skeleton is something to hitch meat on."

Reproductive medicine:
"Artificial insemination is when the farmer does it to the cow instead of the bull."
"To prevent contraception, wear a condominium."
"Many women believe that an alcoholic binge will have no effects on the unborn fetus, but that is a large misconception."

Haematology:
"Before giving a blood transfusion, find out if the blood is affirmative or negative."

Eyes and nose:
"To remove dust from the eye: pull the eye down over the nose."
"For nosebleeds, put the nose lower than the body until the heart stops."
"For a cold: use an agoniser to spray the nose until it drops in your throat."

First aid:
"For fainting: rub the person's chest or, if a lady, rub her arm above the head instead. Or put the head between the knees of the nearest doctor."
"For asphyxiation: apply artificial respiration until the patient is dead."
"For drowning: climb on top of the person and move up and down to make artificial perspiration."

Survival Test...

If lost in the wilderness. Take viagra and an iron supplement. This will turn you into a perfect compass.

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Here in Norfolk it is dull and wet, with absolutely no hint of a sun existing at all...the fifth successive day of such weather, and as such, wearing a bit thin.

It's no secret that my health has been the dominating factor in my life this past year, nearly taking my life more than once.
Now that I am just, only just, beginning to come to terms with M.E. and other physical limitations rendered by the spinal fractures, I found solace in the one thing that has always been a deep love of mine, supplying comfort and hope throughout hardships, that of MUSIC and all it's power.

As society now views me disabled, music has become my society with which to communicate, interplay, and glean as much inspiration as is possible from it's many beautifully entwined spheres of breathtaking adventure.

The small list below is one with which I have enormous empathy, and found Sound Feelings, (from where this list is taken), of great help to me this week, a week of mourning.

My choice of music to help me, has been today, Cafe Goa: Shanti Chillout (2007).
This morning I felt a total 'void' within me, something that is so hard to explain, but it is like stepping outside one's shell and looking in silence at what the first self wishes to do next, but is unable to find a way forward. This, I'm learning, is the onset of M.E.

Have a lovely day.

Love,
Ed
xxx

1 Select Appropriate Music.

Most of us choose music that we “like” but will this give us the best results? In fact, often the music we are least attracted to will have the greatest benefit (when played in the right sequence). Let’s say you are very angry. So your first instinct is to put on some really angry music. Does it really help, or does it kind of perpetuate how you feel? Yet, on the other hand if you play some light and happy music, by comparison to how you are currently feeling, it will probably make you feel angrier! As you see, selecting music is not a simple one-shot process.

2 Consider Music Sequencing.

Sometimes it is necessary to first choose music that totally matches your current mood rather than the mood you wish to acquire. Consider arranging a series of different musical compositions in sequence that are customized just for your needs. For example, if you are dealing with depression, select a composition which represents depression in its extreme form, to you. Follow this with one that is only mildly depressing. Then select a neutral composition, and end with a composition which is clearly uplifting and motivating. Listening to music in a sequence like this allows for your current stress level or mood to be first honored and then to be gradually transformed.

3 Speakers Are Ideal.

It is ideal to listen to the music through speakers rather than headphones so that the cells of the body themselves may “listen” to the sound.

4 Prepare Yourself to Listen.

Take off your shoes. Stand relaxed, sit or lie down and breathe.

5 Listen All the Way Through.

It is preferable to listen to the musical composition all the way through, without interruption. This allows for the optimum response to the transformation process.

6 Foreground, Not Background.

We all have the tendency to use music for the background of other activities. Try developing the technique of just listening to the music, not doing anything else. This way, you will get the best benefit.

7 Your Response is What is Important.

It is through your response that the emotional/cellular memory may be released. Do not think that you have to just stay still and concentrate on the music! In fact, if the music inspires you to get up and do something or your mind begins to wander, allow, allow, allow! Allow all responses without judgment. On the other hand, do not begin listening to the music while you are already doing other unrelated activities. The important thing is to let the music embrace you totally.

8 Listen Actively, Not Passively.

Allow the music to reach your inner feeling, and respond freely to it. Everyone has a different manner of expression. You may experience visual images, thoughts, movement, an intensification of emotion, physical vibrations, sleep, or nothing at all.

9 Observe Mind/Body Connection.

A lot of research has been done recently showing that there is a definite connection between the mind and the body. (Actually this refers to the emotions too but it sounds succinct to say “mind/body.”) Even though music healing is often related to relaxation and emotional issues, there is the likelihood that this indirectly could have a benefit on physical illnesses as well.

10 Enjoy the Silence!

When the music stops, it is suggested that you bask in the silence for many moments. This will help integrate the feelings.

11 Use a Journal.

If you wish to record your progress in a journal, it can be helpful, but not necessary.

Sound feelings

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1830: William Huskisson, statesman and financier, was crushed to death by the world's first mechanically powered passenger train (Stephenson's Rocket), at its public opening.

1834: David Douglas, Scottish botanist, fell into a pit trap accompanied by a bull. He was gored and in all probability crushed.

1868: Matthew Vassar, brewer and founder of Vassar College, died in mid-speech whilst delivering his farewell address to the College Board of Trustees.

1884: Allan Pinkerton, detective, died of gangrene resulting from having bitten his tongue after stumbling on the sidewalk.

1899: French president Félix Faure died of a stroke while receiving oral sex in his office.

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I'm amazed at the offerings of food now available in hospital. It certainly has improved since last year, in some part due, no doubt, to the questionaire's we all filled-up regarding hospy munchies~~~~

Today, for lunch, I see again Cantaloupe...I must confess, that despite my very adventurous tastes, I'd never had Cantaloupe nor even heard of it until recently. I'm going to try it now though.

As there are a large number of doctors and nurses from Philippines here too, having mango, (Philippines national fruit), papaya and pomelo are also possible.

Today, I've therapy and rest. I'm depleted, completely.

Have a beautiful day and weekend dear friends,

Love,
Ed
xx

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